


Broken and Solitary

by airi_chan02



Category: Grand Chase (Online Game), 그랜드체이스 | Grand Chase (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 19:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 59,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7066819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airi_chan02/pseuds/airi_chan02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story of a druid and an archer with their parents' lives taken away by the evil forces. With the ghosts of the pasts haunting them both, they face the coping struggles, completely unaware of the whispers taking a dark turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 0: Prologue

The sun rose up with a bright glow at a clear blue morning sky. The clouds spread the entire blue sky as the flowers started to open up from their buds and reveal their beautiful petals. Butterflies fluttered and sucked the nectar of the flowers and flew off to search for the nectar-filled plants.

You may be expecting a shining new day… you smile, laugh, giggle, and enjoy the fresh air. But this moment is never easy for one female elf.

The girl's name is Lire. She is a fifteen-year old elf who takes a noble position as the Eryuell archer. She was never the most admired girl in the entire Elven Forest unlike the rest of her fellow elves. Her long blonde hair tied into a ponytail let small strands of her hair fall down her ponytail as her light green eyes stared in the sky.

A lonely elf like herself… who needs a better place to live her life, needs to _get_ a new life. Why? Her parents died from one of the Queen's invasions to the Elven Forest. Her father joined the druids and warriors to slay her, but unfortunately, Kaze'aze had unleashed her full energy and used her enormous fire ball to burn the druids alive until they're faint figures of skeletons lying on the ground... while her mother, escaping with Lire, sacrificed herself over her daughter and to save her life.

The maidens treated and nursed her back to health. She was a young girl back then when she watched the druids and warriors train in the clearings. The quivers and arrows caught her gaze… it was then she insisted on having those weapons someday until her dream came true.

The female elf sighed and left the forest. She wanted to have a little stroll to some other places. Trial Forest… Trial Tower… the outer walls of Serdin, the kingdom of magic….

Lire brought her quiver and arrows with her and started her short trip to her destination. Her eyes caught the sight of two butterflies with colourful pairs of wings fluttering around each other happily and they perched together on a sunflower and sucked the nectar together. She beamed at the sight of them and went on walking.

She found a clearing filled with druids and warriors – elves – filed up in the area. Lire found a good spot behind the trees as the forest lord stepped in front. The druids and warriors bowed down before him in honor and remained still.

"Druids, heroes and warriors," Clovis, the forest lord, raised his arms to call the attention of the citizens. "Of all our noble warriors who have fought for justice… and our fallen warriors who died in honor," he declaimed. "Our faithful successors have achieved their aspirations to become both journeymen and warriors as well. The forests from all over Bermesiah are once again safe from the evil influence of the Queen… Kaze'aze,"

"Kaze'aze…" Lire repeated softly and listened.

"Many warriors fell from the Queen's power over her invincibility," Clovis continued. "Lich, one of the former druids who perished and used Necromancy to use the fallen bodies of the dead warriors as his minions, has risen yet again and found a haven where he can torment the dead souls from their graves… and use them for his own deeds," The crowd broke into noisy hubbubs. The maidens exchanged looks of panic and worry. Lire bit her lip from the tension rising over her body. "I fear that Lich will soon summon the spirits from beyond the dead and put his power over them. We must fight… and stop the evil forces lurking in the whole Bermesiah.

"We now have young and skilled warriors who will help protect our elderly warriors from those who disrupt Mother Nature… skilled that they have the ability to transform into certain forest creatures… and the goddess of the earth, Gaia, put her essence into them." Clovis closed his eyes. "We praise the beautiful goddess… as the source of life."

The maidens and warriors clasped their hands to their chests and closed their eyes in prayer. Lire awkwardly mimicked the routine and closed her eyes, too, without saying the loyal words to honour the goddess of life Gaia.

The ceremony ended few moments later as the young elf girl wandered around the forest. She coughed and clamped her mouth with her hand. She wheezed and suddenly knelt on the ground. She heard footsteps approaching behind her as two maidens went towards her. Lire struggled from the wheezes and the coughs… she has forgotten she was suffering from a high fever for two days. Her face turned red and she closes her eyes from the extreme drowsiness. The maidens panicked and called for help. A fellow druid arrived and carried the girl's unconscious body in his arms, taking her back to her safe haven and for the maidens to nurse her to health.

As for Lire, she fell in a deep slumber. Her long blonde hair fell like ocean waves on her back and the covers covered her body. Her closed eyes formed illusions from the pasts… the death of her only parents, the Queen destroying the Partusay Sea, the Elven Forest and corrupting the trees with her energy. The Queen absorbed the trees' energies and nutrients and the entire forest left devastated. Bodies of the fallen warriors lay on the ground drenched in their own blood… In her dream, Lire witness the fall of the goddess Gaia… and the forest lord Clovis, and the domination of Kaze'aze. The girl twitched in her sleep and moaned. She couldn't wake up from this nightmare.

She can see the face of Kaze'aze close to hers and her hand engulfed with dark aura, ready to strike her down…

" _No… please…"_

Kaze'aze formed an evil smirk. "Ahh… foolish little girl, you can't run now… now that your parents are dead and now you are alone…"

" _N-no… please don't…"_

The Queen let out an evil laugh as she shoved her dark pulse-filled hand towards her and –

" **No!** "

Lire sat upright on her bed between heavy pants. She looked sideways and realized she was the only one inside the haven. She sighed in relief and stared into blank space.

" _It's true. Kaze'aze murdered my family, leaving me as their only child,"_

The dreadful flashback of the death of her family still flashed inside her head… the one that she could not get over with. Her father and mother, her only family, who raised her as a little girl and an angel, have faded off her life. She could no longer feel their presence. She whispered a soft prayer as she clasped her hands on her chest and closed her eyes.

"May the souls of my father and mother rest in peace, and may the perpetual lights shine upon them…" she whispered as a tiny tear trickled down her left eye…

She heard footsteps approaching. Lire jolted in surprise and saw Marina, her care-giver, standing on the doorstep and was approaching her, the maiden held a small goblet of water and a clean cloth on her hands.

"How are you doing, Lire?" she asked.

"Not really good…" the girl replied, hitting her head on the pillow. Marina sat at the side of her bed, dipped the cloth on the small goblet of water and squeezed the excess water. Lire closed her eyes in relaxation and felt the wetness of the cloth touch her face. Marina wiped her face clean and dipped the cloth back into the goblet.

"What were you doing wandering in the forest like that?" Marina asked. "You know you're not supposed to stay outside until you're better,"

"I… I'm sorry," Lire said softly. "I just wanted to see the trees and… the ceremony,"

Marina sighed. "So you heard Lord Clovis and his declamation…"

Lire didn't say anything but to nod in response. "We thought all the forests from Bermesiah are safe… ever since Lich has resurrected from the dead, many forest druids and citizens are in grave danger. He used Necromancy to rise up the fallen warriors for his minions. Necromancy has been illegal to druids… and it is a kind of black magic tormenting the souls of innocent people," Marina told her. "It is true that we have druids with the abilities to transform into forest creatures. Two years ago a young boy drank water from the lake mixed with Kaze'aze's blood, making him transform into a different creature we've never seen before. Maidens brought him pure tree trunks to restore him back to health until he had full control to transform between elf and beast,"

"What kind of creature?" Lire asked in curiosity.

"It is certainly a forest wolf." Marina replied. "He would be seen running in the forest in all fours and attacking trolls and orcs invading the area."

Lire stared at the woman intently and thought of the pictorial image of this druid…

"Well, you need your sleep now, Lire," the woman stood up holding the goblet and the damp cloth. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me in case you are hungry or thirsty. I'll see you again later," Marina planted a kiss on her forehead and left. Lire beamed and stared at the ceiling in silence.

" _A druid that can transform into a forest wolf…"_

Lire couldn't help imagining the image of the druid until she'd had enough. She put herself back under the covers and went back to sleep. The sun's rays struck through the window and the birds began to chirp.

A shadow stood before the sleeping girl as he stared at her in silence. He moaned grimly and left the girl's haven after one last glimpse…

" _So that's her… the orphan who survived from Kaze'aze two years ago…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is originally published in Fanfiction.Net last 2010 and I decided to duplicate them all here to contribute to this nearly dead fandom.


	2. Chapter 1: Memories

" _Where am I?"_

Lire opened her eyes and find her inside the forest back where she fainted. All around her were the trees cut down… and the ground forming large cracks. The druids ran to the heart of the forest where they find the Queen smashing the havens of the elves. The blonde-haired girl trembled when she saw her father and mother. Her father ran past her… leaving her mother grabbing her wrist.

" _Let's go, Lire… it's not safe here,"_ she said, pulling her daughter with her and trembling.

" _B-but what about Daddy?"_ The girl hesitated but her mother just dragged her along. Lire started to form tears trickling down her cheeks. Kaze'aze appeared in the sky and blasted a huge fire ball that burned the trees and havens. Many druids have fallen, leaving their faint figures of skeletons lying on the ground scattered with burnt flesh. Their weapons are drenched in their blood and were left scattered on the blood stained forest ground.

" _Daddy!"_ Lire screamed. Her mother, still holding her wrist, cried silently and pulled her daughter in her arms. The little girl cried on her mother's chest in misery. _"H-he's gone…"_

Before her mother could even respond, Kaze'aze turned her glance towards them. The elven woman gasped and pulled Lire in her arms, giving the Queen a murderous glare. Kaze'aze grinned and walked towards them, her claw-like hands charged with deadly aura.

" _Looks like we got two remaining survivors,"_ she said in a sly tone. _"Well, you should say your last words before you say goodbye to your dear life,"_

" _You've caused enough damage to our village!"_ Lire's mother retorted. _"You may do anything you want but not to destroy innocent lives!"_

Kaze'aze sneered. _"Such goody-goody words,"_ her face turned grim. _"But you haven't seen anything more interesting than that,"_ She punched the ground, creating earthquakes that shook the ground violently. Lire whimpered and felt her mother's arms encircling around her for protection.

" _Mommy…"_

" _Kaze'aze, you may kill me but not my daughter!"_ she heard her mother mouth out the words, causing her to gasp in shock.

" _Oh, so you'll sacrifice your precious daughter over your life, ha?"_ the Queen questioned. _"But I prefer killing you_ both, _"_

" _M-mommy..!"_ Lire is pulled out of her mother's arms. Kaze'aze's shadow balls formed dark beams that entangled around her body like vines. She can see her mother falling on her knees and begging for her to give back her daughter.

" _Give her back… s-she's my only daughter!"_

" _Give her back?"_ Kaze'aze smirked. _"Why she'll be enjoying her afterlife right after I kill you first,"_

" _M-mommy!"_ Lire cried and struggled from the binds. At last, her mother made her final decision.

" _Kill me, Kaze'aze… I will sacrifice my life to save my only daughter…"_ she said solemnly, standing up and staring at her daughter's eyes filled with her love and affection. _"I love you, Lire… you will always be my daughter…"_

" _MOMMY!"_ Lire shrieked as tears flooded her eyes. Her chest hurt as she let out loud hiccupping sobs. _"D-don't leave me! I… I love you! Please don't leave me!"_

But she was too late. Kaze'aze struck her mother a powerful punch. It knocked the air out of her as she was sent sprawled on the ground, blood trickling down her lips.

" _MOMMY!"_

Kaze'aze let go of the little girl, making her fall on her stomach. _"I think that's enough…"_ she glanced towards Lire, her face forming into an evil smirk. _"Until next time, little girl… when the time comes, you'll soon end up like the rest of your own race…"_ She disappeared into thin air, leaving Lire running towards the limp body of her mother. She knelt down and shook her mother.

" _M-mommy..?"_ her lips quivered as she nudged her mother. Unfortunately, the woman didn't respond. Her eyes are closed when they slowly opened. _"Lire…"_

" _M-mommy!"_ The little girl gasped. _"M-mommy… please wake up, you can't be dead…"_

" _Lire…"_ her battered mother coughed. _"I… I'm afraid… this is the end of me."_

Her daughter cried as tears fell down on the dirty clothes of her mother. _"Remember that… I will always love you… t-take care of yourself and… stay with R…"_

" _Stay with what? M-mommy… Mommy!"_ Unfortunately, her mother lay on the ground, gave in her last breath and closed her eyes… forever.

" **No!** "

Lire sat upright on her bed, tears falling down her cheeks. She broke into heavy breaths and placed her hand on her chest. She stared by the window beside her and saw the sun shining brightly for the midday.

"I've been sleeping for four hours..?"

The dreadful flashback flashed inside her head. The death of her parents two years ago… and the name of the person her mother entrusted her to stay with… Who could it be?

"What are you trying to tell me, mom?" she asked herself. "Who'll be my…"

_I'm sure it's a boy… but who is it?_

She stared at the sky, recalling her mother's last words before she died. She has no idea who the person is…

_Who could it be? I haven't got any clue… there has to be something._

* * *

 

A young forest druid proceeded to a clearing. He held an axe on hand and he placed it over his shoulder. He had an orange messy hair that spiked in different directions. A green headband encircled his forehead with small yellow buttons at the front. He wore a black shirt with a dark green vest unbuttoned. It was slightly short that it showed half of his stomach. A rope was tied around his waist like a belt… and he wore a pair of black pants.

His strong green eyes stared up in the sky and to the trees. He stepped his feet on the forest ground and closed his eyes.

The eerie sound of the wind relaxed him. He needed silence and concentration. It was then he reopened them and began his training.

 _I need a moving target…_ he thought to himself. He looked around him… nothing. He is not used to target dummies. This is boring, he thought. He _needed_ a moving target. But where can he find one?

His pointed ears heard a sound nearby. He turned towards the direction and spotted a nearby bush. It made rustling sounds that made him suspicious. He approached the bush and –

"Raargh!"

Two orcs popped out of the bush and cornered him. The boy stared at them grimly. The orcs owned stone mallets. They had those yellow fangs that are filled with cavity.

A smirk formed across his face.

_Two against one… how exciting…_

The orcs growled and fumed. The boy stood between them, waiting for their first moves…

_Hmm… maybe a little taunt should do it._

Before he could do this strategy, the orc behind him charged. His eyes stared quickly behind. The orc leapt, ready to hit his mallet towards him. He crouched down as the orc leapt across, almost landing on the other orc. The druid smirked again.

His hands summoned green spores as they moved like gelatin. He threw them towards the two beasts: "Poison Spore!" The spores landed on the ground and dripped like slime. The orcs dodged them and lunged. One orc threw his mallet struck the ground with the weapon and shook the ground slightly. The druid twitched slightly and turned his glance at the other orc above him, ready to strike him down.

BAM!

A crackling sound filled the air. The two orcs shielded themselves with their filthy arms. To their surprise, they find a bright orange shield on the druid's place. The boy gave them another smirk as the shield faded.

_Now it's my turn…_

He prepared himself by charging himself with energy. His eyes are closed, as if the orcs thought he is taking a rest. Getting impatient, the beasts charged towards him when the boy's eyes reopened, his eyes filled with rage.

To the orcs' surprise, the druid roared, sending them staggering backwards and clutching their heads. The druid smirked again. _Perfect…_

He tightened the grip of his axe and gathered all of his energy. His axe grew larger and smashed the weapon to the outwitted orcs – "Hammering Crusher!" – creating a small tornado bursting out of the ground.

Gaining his victory, the boy placed the axe over his shoulder and wiped off a sweat. He took his one last glimpse at the orc corpses before leaving the area. His face then formed a grim stare towards the bright sky. He remembered this place… it was where the Queen of Darkness, Kaze'aze slaughtered the druids in his own race as well as the elves inhabiting the area.

The ground he is stepping at was the place where the skeletons of the fallen druids and warriors laid.

Two years ago, Kaze'aze suddenly appeared in the Elven Forest, slaughtered many druids, destroyed innocent lives and… disrupted the entire forest. The little boy's parents left him inside their haven along with the maidens watching over the infants.

" _Mom, Dad!"_ he called after them. But his father turned around and knelt in front of his son. _"Ryan, you stay here while your mother and I figure out a way to put an end to this madness… do you understand?"_

" _Y-yes… Dad,"_ the little boy nodded reluctantly. He watched his father leave him behind along with his wife. The maidens put him in a safer place as the infants began to cry.

The sky turned darker gray as Kaze'aze stood at the heart of the forest, watching the druids and warriors charge towards her and ready for their weapons and godlike powers.

" _Don't look…"_ A maiden clamped her hand on the druid – Ryan's eyes to keep him from witnessing the scene.

Couldn't stand staying inside the haven any longer, the druid decided to escape; he found an open window to jump out. He tiptoed across the room and sneakily hopped out of the window. He landed onto his feet and found a hiding place inside the bushes.

 _Mom, Dad, where are you?_ He thought stubbornly.

Just then, he heard a loud rumbling noise. He looked at his right and what he saw made him gasp in surprise.

An enormous ball of fire was blasted from Kaze'aze, burning the druids alive. What left them were faint figures of skeletons lying on the ground with their weapons thrown aside.

" _Mom! Dad!"_

He was interrupted when he saw Kaze'aze coming towards the direction where he was. He hid inside the bushes and heard the heavy footsteps of the Queen's monstrosity.

" _C'mon, Lire, we have to go… this place is dangerous,"_

He lifted his head up slightly and found a woman and a little girl a few distances from him. The girl was the same age as his and her face is filled with tears. Ryan knew about the woman since he was five but he doesn't know the girl. He muttered the girl's name as he watched Kaze'aze cornered them. The woman pulled the girl in her arms.

" _Any last words before you die?"_

" _You may do anything you want, Kaze'aze, but not to destroy the forest and harm innocent lives!"_

" _Ha, ha, ha… such goody-goody words,"_ Kaze'aze sneered. _"But you haven't seen anything better than the last time,"_ She punched the ground, shaking the ground violently.

What the druid saw next was Kaze'aze creating a dark vine and entangling it around the girl's body. The woman begged to give her daughter back.

" _You may kill me, but not my daughter!"_

" _Hmm… I do prefer killing you both,"_ Kaze'aze replied, staring at the girl struggling from the binds and screaming for her mother.

He felt sorry for the girl. Tears fell down the poor girl's cheeks as she watched the Queen knock her mother out cold. She was sent sprawled on the ground, blood trickling down her lips. The girl was released from the binds, making her fall on her knees.

" _Until next time, kiddo, when the time comes, soon you'll end up like the rest of your own race…"_ Kaze'aze smirked before leaving her alone with the corpse of her mother.

Ryan saw how the girl's heart broke from the death of her parents… when he later realized he wasn't the only one…

" _I-I'm afraid this is the end of me… Lire, you t-take care of yourself… and stay with R…"_ the girl's mother gave in her last breath before closing her eyes forever.

The druid let out a soft gasp. Was the girl's mother entrusting her daughter to stay with…

He saw the girl crying miserable and running to the woods. With this, he decided to follow her to the forest without being seen. He followed her to the swamp nearby and hit behind a tree. He found her sitting on the small boulder and staring at her reflection on the water. Tiny tears poured down the girl's cheeks and let them drip on the water.

He stared at the girl's eyes… shades of light green.

" _Ryan!"_

The maidens called him from the distance, catching his attention and the girl as well. He stood up and unexpectedly… stole glances with the girl. The girl stared back at him in surprise.

His name was called twice when he had the urge to get back. He looked back and the girl's movements told him she's coming close. He has to know about this girl… but the maidens are calling him to get back.

Leaving him no choice, he sprinted off. The girl mouthed out a small _"Wait I…"_ before he took his one last glimpse.

Here in the present, Ryan couldn't erase the girl's image off his head. He didn't even have the chance to know her, but one thing that he can remember that her name was… Lire.


	3. Chapter 2: Encounter

The blonde-haired archer clutched her forehead to check her temperature. She was still burning hot. Here was her first dilemma: how can she get out without being seen?

Thinking fast, she hopped out of her bed and peeked through the door. Marina is doing the laundry while the rest of the maidens are doing their usual jobs. Lire found an open door near her when a maiden walked past her holding a tray of food. The aroma caught her nostrils and caused her mouth to almost water.

Her stomach growled, complaining for food.

"I'm hungry…" she muttered.

It was then Marina opened the door where she hid behind.

"Oh Lire," the woman blinked. "What are you doing out of your bed?"

The girl twitched and sweat dropped. "Oh, I-I… I was hungry," she replied with a sheepish grin. "I also need a medicine to get rid of the fever, ehehe…"

Marina smiled. "No need to worry, Lire," she chuckled. "You need enough food to help cure your fever then you can go outside again,"

"T-thank you, Marina~" Lire said gratefully and stepped out of her haven.

The banquet of food caught her gaze. Her light green eyes sparkled at the sight of it when she heard her stomach grumble again. She sheepishly clutched it and grinned. "Don't worry, you'll be fully loaded with food for a moment," she chuckled and stepped forward to the dining room.

She sat on one of the vacant seats as a maiden placed a full course dish on the table. Her eyes sparkled and grabbed her empty plate. She placed two blueberries, a fried chicken leg, and a cup of rice and prayed. "Thank you for the food," She started eating while staring at the other young elves like her serving themselves as well. Marina placed a tall glass of water beside her plate and paid her back with a grateful smile.

" _Take care of yourself… and most importantly: stay with…"_

Her mother's last words couldn't get out of her mind. What is her mother trying to tell her? Who is this person she's telling her about?

" _A person whose name starts with an R…"_

She popped a spoonful of her meal and chewed. She drank her tall glass of water and thought the mystery inside her head over again.

"Ah, Ryan, we've been looking for you all morning!"

Lire's eyes snapped open and turned her head back. A boy with orange spiky hair arrived inside the dining room with an axe placed over his shoulder. His strong green eyes looked around the area where the maidens motioned him to sit on one of the tables.

" _Ryan… could it be…._

The boy stepped inside his haven to place his axe under his bed. Staring through the window was the same swamp where he saw the blonde-haired girl for the first time.

"Ryan, lunch is served," Marina called out to him with her head poking on the door.

"Coming,"

He stood up and stepped out of his haven. Maidens are welcoming the rest of the young elves for the newly-served lunch. The green-eyed druid sighed and walked through the place to find a vacant seat. To his surprise, Marina had already served in front of a vacant seat and she was motioning him to come over.

Needed not to be told twice, he gave in and went towards the direction where the woman motioned him to. He sat on the vacant seat and stared at his plate filled with mouth-watering food and desserts.

Lire, on the other hand, let out a soft gasp just as when she was about to take another spoonful. Butterflies flew in her stomach as she stared at the appearance of the boy. Those eyes… she had seen them before. She suddenly remembered her flashback of an orange-haired boy stealing glances at her and she stared back. The colors of the eyes were way too familiar.

" _Eat your food before it gets cold…"_

Before she would precede back to her meal, her spoon fell of her fingers and on to the floor with a tiny clank, she bent down to pick it up when she saw a pair of strong emerald-green eyes looking down at her.

Lire gasped… the orange-haired druid stared back at her.

Their eyes fixed on each other when the girl squeezed hers shut. She grabbed her plate and hurriedly went back to her haven to eat her lunch there.

"Oh my…" she squeaked. "That was so embarrassing…" Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

_You airhead, that was him!_

"What do you mean… him?" she asked her conscience.

_You know?_

"I know what?"

_Oh for the love of Gaia, you just wasted the opportunity. Do you remember the time you stole glances with that boy in the swamp two years ago?_

"N-no… I don't remember," the girl shook her head.

_C'mon, open your eyes, lemon-head! Think again._

"Alright…" Lire put down her dish and stared at the swamp through the window. All she could remember was her image as a little girl sitting on that rock, crying, and staring at her reflection on the water. What is her conscience trying to tell her?

She imagined her little girl image looking sideways and her eyes fixed towards an orange-haired boy, her green eyes glanced towards hers.

"Now I remember…" she said softly. "He was right there…"

_Now you remember. You thought he was another guy stealing glances from you ha?_

"Shut up…" she hissed before finishing the last spoonful's of her meal. One thing is for sure, that the boy she saw recently was the same guy from the swamp… after two whole years!

" _I remember my mom telling me about this boy she knows… but I don't remember his name until I heard just recently that his name was…_

She stood up and peeked through the door. The orange-haired boy sat with the other elves and doesn't to get bothered by the rest of the noisy elves sitting with him.

"… _Ryan,"_

The green-eyes boy finished his food and went back to his haven. He swore he saw her again. Those light green eyes… there was an intense feeling that made him want to stare at them forever. He once again stared at the swamp through the window, recalling the surprise glances with the girl…

He was surprised why the girl bailed him off like that in the dining room. He watched her sprint inside her haven and locked herself inside.

That is when he realized his haven was right next to hers…

He sighed grimly and left his food half empty. He stepped inside his haven and laid on his bed, crossing his arms under his head and staring at the ceiling in silence. He sighed again and stared at the other window next to him where he gazed at the hot midday sky. The sudden memory of Kaze'aze's sudden appearance flashed in his mind…

"Maybe I should…" Lire told herself when she sighed. "...never mind,"

_You know, you shouldn't have bailed from the dining room like that. Good thing nobody saw you from that incident._

"But… I didn't know what to do," the girl talked to herself. "…staring at a stranger like that when I realized he was familiar – too familiar,"

_Guess you better find him before you miss your chance…_

Marina entered her room to find her with a long face. "Is there something wrong, Lire?"

The blonde-haired girl replied. "N-no, nothing…" She stood up to hide the sadness in her eyes. She snatched her quiver and her arrows. "Well… I, I gotta go. I'm feeling better now,"

"Are you sure?" the care-giver asked.

"Yes…" Lire replied with a slow nod. "I'll go visit the castle of Serdin to reunite with the Grand Chase,"

"Hmm… is that so?" Marina questioned. She put a finger on her chin. "I visited Ryan's haven a moment ago to check on him and told me the same thing,"

"… _Ryan?"_

"W-what did you say?" Lire's heart skipped a beat.

"Ryan," Marina repeated. "He was a friend of yours, isn't he?"

The girl bit her lip. "I… I don't remember. M-my mom told me once she knows this boy, and she entrusted me to stay with him…"

"Yes, that's right," Marina nodded in reply. "You haven't seen each other until now?"

"Two years ago… right after my mom died, I-I remembered seeing him from the swamp…"

Marina sighed. "Lire, that is why I reserved a vacant seat next to you… for him,"

The girl's heart sank. All this time, it was Ryan sitting next to her in the dining room and the one she stole glances with recently before she left the dining room in humiliation.

"…and his haven is right next to yours," Marina added. "I'll be expecting the two of you to head to the castle together,"

"Fine…" Lire gave in. She flashed a faint smile at the woman. "Guess I'll better get going,"

She left the haven and found the exit. Carrying her quiver and arrows with her, she once again explored the entire place. The flowers are started to bud. The forest is safe from monsters and… the sky is flooded with harpies searching for prey…

Afraid the flying beasts will spot her wandering helplessly; she found a hiding place inside the bushes. The shrubs made rustling noises whenever she would walk across them. The tiny branches irritated her skin and some thorns gave her the clean and tiny cuts.

"Ouch…" she complained. "Ow!" To her relief, the harpies transferred to a different place and she hopped out of the shrubs, covered in dried leaves and thorns.

"You know, its best when you get used to those critters,"

Lire turned around and found a young forest elf standing behind her. The boy had an axe over his shoulder and was staring at her with a cool gaze.

"Y-you…"

She found herself staring directly at a pair of strong green eyes. The sight of his orange hair spiked in different directions made it obvious who it was.

"Oh… err, hi!" she waved sheepishly, hiding her bow behind her back. "I-I was just heading to the Serdin castle to uhh… pay Grand Chase a visit,"

The boy snorted. "What coincidence," the druid replied. "Marina told you, huh?"

Lire nodded truthfully. She sighed sadly.

"Hmm… so you're Lire, if I'm not mistaken?" the girl nodded again.

"And you're… Ryan..?"

"Yeah, I witnessed Kaze'aze killing your mother right in front of you," Ryan said as he began walking. Lire followed him behind. "And… my parents are friends of yours. It's just you never show up personally with that shy habit,"

" _Oh crud… he's right. I failed to meet him personally."_

"My mother told me something about staying with…" Lire started when the druid stared towards her, almost stopping on his tracks.

"What?"

The blonde-haired girl shook her head. "Nothing… it's just… never mind,"

"I knew that," the druid said. "Bet you didn't know you're destined to stay with _me_ ,"

"Uhmm… maybe,"

"It goes exactly from what your mom told you, and I heard her before you lost her,"

Lire gasped. "You were eavesdropping?"

"Accidentally… and since there are no other witnesses aside from me,"

Lire fell silent for a few moments. He was right. She failed to go outdoors to meet him personally from all those years. But here in the present, he was there in front of him and following him leading to the elite group of warriors that she met a year ago. She joined them on behalf of her own race, and so did Ryan.

" _So does that mean he can transform into a forest creature just like Marina told me earlier..?"_

" _He drank water mixed with Kaze'aze's blood that made him transform into a creature that we haven't seen before. So we gave him pure tree trunks to help him recover until he gained control. Many say that it was a curse lifted by Gaia and she removed the curse engulfed around it…"_

Now Lire can remember. Lord Clovis mentioned something about young druids joining their comrades and they have the ability to transform into certain forest creatures.

" _So I am destined to stay with him…"_ she thought. _"I hope we'll get along just fine,"_


	4. Chapter 3: Providence

The two elves made it to the castle after they've walked for half an hour and the extra time for the beating up monsters situation. They've killed three harpies in a row just they're about to grab them with their sharp talons and devour their flesh…

They stood in front of the doorstep when a blonde-haired woman wearing a knight's armor opened the door for them. Her brown eyes glanced towards them as her lips formed a smile.

"Ah, you've arrived," she said formally. "Just in time for your first mission,"

Lire twitched and tightened the grip of her bow behind her back. Ryan didn't say anything but to stare at her at the corner of his eye.

A red-haired girl with her hair tied into a braided ponytail suddenly appeared chasing a red-haired boy holding a spear on her hands. The red-haired fighter yelled in protest when the girl tackled him on the ground.

"I'm gonna make you regret what you said…" Elesis hissed, pointing the tip of her spear on Jin's face.

"I said it was a joke!" Jin retorted. "Jeez… what's with girls these days?"

The Knight Master sighed. "When will those two get along?" she uttered, staring at the two red-haired warriors bickering behind the two elves.

Jin stood up and dusted himself off. He turned his attention towards them. "Hey, Ryan!" he grinned, approaching the druid. "Glad you and Lire made it!"

"So what's the mission?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, you will take this quest with Jin," Knight Master handed the sealed scroll to the fighter. "You two will defeat the Giant Drillmon taking over the Gorge of Oath, which appears to be the way across the kingdom of Kanavan," she told them. "Your comrade Ronan departed before you arrived,"

"He told me he'll go to the Gaikoz Castle to continue his quest on defeat the ghost knight Gaikoz," Jin broke in. "So does this mean we'll follow him?"

"No," the Knight Master shook her head. "There are a lot of drillmons inhabiting that gorge. I'll be counting on both of you to restore its peace and freedom,"

The druid and the fighter nodded.

"Ready to go?" Jin asked, holding the scroll on his hand.

Ryan stared towards Lire, her bow placed behind her back and looking down at her shoes. "Guess I'll be leaving you then," he said as the blonde-haired archer gasped softly and nodded slowly.

"Lire will stay here for her training," Knight Master smiled, placing her hand on Lire's shoulder. "You may depart before trouble brews,"

With this, the two left and Elesis, finished from her little distraction, finally left the small garden in front of the castle and proceeded for her training. The Knight Master welcomed Lire inside where she met a purple-haired magician and the girl with pink twirled pigtails sitting on the table and fighting over a book containing all kinds of origami paper works.

The archer remained speechless when the girl with pink twirled pigtails glanced at her direction. "Oh, Lire~" she smiled and grinned. "You're here~"

"What took you so long?" Arme asked, snatching the book away from the dancer's hands.

"Unexpected harpy attacks…" Lire responded. "G-guess I'll better go upstairs,"

"Okay," Arme beamed and Lire went upstairs and found the door of her room. It was the old room she used to stay since last year. This time, the room was clean. The last time she saw it, it was ransacked by orcs and goblins before she and the rest of the Chase evacuated the area and attack the monsters. She smiled at the sight if her tidy room for she wished she wanted to clean some of the rubbish herself. She chuckled at herself and heard Arme and Amy's voices bickering downstairs.

"Wonder how the other guys are doing…"

She found another lane of staircase leading to Mari's laboratory. A green bean bag sat at the corner with a black-haired man lying on it. He had a tiny bubble sprouting out of his nostrils while Mari is working on her latest invention. Sparks can be heard inside the laboratory as Sieghart turned in his sleep.

_Sheesh, when will that immortal ever change?_

_Jin mentioned something that Ronan went to Gaikoz Castle for a certain mission._ Lire thought. She realized Arme, Amy, Elesis, Mari and Sieghart – the only boy – are the ones left in the castle with her. Jin and Ryan also left and went to the Gorge of Oath and, if they could, follow Ronan to Gaikoz Castle to help him out. _And Elesis said something about Lass going back to Silvercross Town to do some errands._

Lire sighed and went inside her bedroom to rest. She plunged herself on the bed. "My legs are tired from walking…" she uttered when her eyes gazed upon a small shelf filed with old-looking books. "What are Arme's books doing in here?" She leaned towards the book shelf and found the titles engraved on their binds.

 _Serdin: Kingdom of Magic and its History_ – she read. She ran her eyes on the book titles.

_Kaze'aze: Queen of the Darkness and traces of her existence_

_Monsters in Serdin: Where to Find them_

_Queens of Serdin and Kanavan_

_Serdin and Kanavan: Two Kingdoms, One Power_

_The Existence and Extinction of Elves_

Lire's eyes widened at the last book. "The extinctions of my beings…" she gasped. She pulled the book from the small pile and flipped through its pages. There are stolen images taken from certain forests – mostly – and pictures of elf corpses revealed at the side of the text. She can see the images of the survivors and an article regarding the invasion of the Queen two years ago…

_**The Queen Strikes:** _ _Kaze'aze, known as the Queen of the Darkness, is an evil woman who caused the five-year war between the kingdoms of Serdin and Kanavan. Many heroes fell from the war and the Queen of Serdin sacrificed her life to end the war. On this unexpected condition, she presents her unexpected appearances on the Elven Forest to destroy the druids and elves inhabiting the area. Druids and heroes charged toward the Queen when she burns the alive. Faint figures of skeletons can be found on the heart of the forest with the traces of ruins the Queen left. She escapes and now, she is nowhere to be found…_ _**(2328-2329)** _

_What's with the humans these days?_ She thought, skimming through the certain articles that would give her clues regarding the traces of Kaze'aze.

_**The Elven Corps:** _ _The Elven Corps is an organization to prevent conflict between elves and humans. They are consisted of heroes and druids from the Elven Forest. The Goddess of Life Gaia gave them her essence to guide them on their journeys. During the violent and the bloody wars in history, druids fell, mostly from the Elven Corps. The organization would recruit young and trained ones and serve their own race as well. They would rarely accept female warriors as their comrade. One female elf is miraculously a member of this organization. They never told the humans the name of this noble elf as years have passed. The forest landlord Clovis is the leader of the Elven Corps and sends in his troops to train the young druids in order to help them battle with the enemies of Nature._

"The humans never knew me…" Lire told herself, reading the rest of the article written. She found another article on the next page. Images of wolves larger than an ordinary canine, and they also included the epic images of Nephilim and… black wolves that would appear under the full moon. She knew them as druids possessing extraordinary powers. But one article caught her eyes when an image of a boy appeared at the side of the text.

_**Curse Transformation: Now a gift:** _ _Every curse from Kaze'aze is a curse. Every death caused by the Queen is disaster. But this shocking story of this boy brought surprises to every elf in the forests. According to so-called "witch doctors", this boy (name unknown) drank water from the Trial Forest mixed with the Queen's blood, poisoning him in the process. When the full moon arrived, he transformed into a creature elves have never seen before in their entire lives. It was identified as a wolf with an aggressive attribute. It destroys anything in its path and it was heard it killed forest species without knowing what he's doing. Fellow witch doctors provided him pure tree trunks after some druids found him in his elven form sprawled on the forest grounds. They asked for the goddess of life Gaia's essence and guidance as the beautiful goddess appeared before them and lifted the curse inside the boy. His malevolent aggression has been wiped out and miraculously he has recovered. With this, Gaia gave him the gift of transforming into a certain forest creature like the wolf. He was trained by the druids until he became part of the clan of the heroes._

"Wow…" Lire said in awe. "They featured Ryan in this story…"

She again flipped through the pages as the images of different druids and monsters appeared on every page. She hated monsters, especially the ugly ones. They reminded her of the orcs invading the Grand Chase castle and the harpies flying in the skies to search for prey. A highlighted topic caught her eyes.

_**Forests as Habitats of Elves:** _ _Trial Forest, Elven Forest, Forest of Life, Grove of the Ancients…_

The last title made Lire react. "I've never heard about elves living in Silver Land,"

(n/a: Grove of the Ancients is the first dungeon on Silver Land. That's how we call it here in the Philippines Server. Sorry about the interruptions guys)

 _ **Monsters in the Elven Forest:**_ _The Elven Forest is the forest located in the Bermesiah continent. Druids, elves, maidens and the Elven Corps_ (see page 35) _inhabited this forest for centuries. Even though it is a peaceful and nature-friendly kingdom, it is also invaded by monsters of all kinds._

_**Harpy:** _ _A monster with a head of a woman and a bird's body. Its sharp talons grab its prey and tear off the flesh. It would usually feed on helpless little elven children and take them away from their parents. They would eat the internal organs of its prey like the heart. They'll feed on the corpse and leave the skeleton of their prey. Harpies are also known as the vultures of the Elven Forest._

_**Orc:** _ _These are small monsters with light green bodies covered in strange tattoos. They use thick wooden sticks as weapons. They are easy targets, making them easy to kill._

_**Stone Orc:** _ _Some say it is the first evolution stage of the orc. Its light green body transform into darker green and they will grow larger fangs. They wear protective armor and use hammers as weapons. They would throw them towards their target until knocked out cold._

_**Orc Warrior:** _ _It is stronger than the Stone Orc. It has the same skin color and armor. But this stage is more aggressive than the last one. It uses stone mallets as weapons that can kill one victim when hit, especially on the head._

_**Troll:** _ _This monster is the deadliest creature the elves have encountered. It is terribly enormous that it can smash trees and havens. Its large fists can shake the ground violently. It has killed many young elves and injured druids. Lord Clovis, the forest landlord, killed a troll invading the forest before he was proclaimed as the landlord._

"I'm sure there are more of them…" Lire whispered, reading some of the articles.

Just then, she heard footsteps approaching as she slammed the book shut. She placed the book back on the shelf when the door opened. Arme appeared on the door.

"Hi," she smiled. "I prepared some fresh and hot congee for you,"

The blonde-haired archer hopped out of her bed. "Oh uhh… thanks, Arme," she beamed. She walked past the mage as the door closed behind them. "By the way, what are your books doing in my room?" she asked.

Arme chuckled. "Relax, Lire, I placed them in your shelf just in case you get bored or something. Have you read the book about the existence and the extinction of elves?"

"I was just reading it before you came,"

"Sorry about earlier," the mage grinned sheepishly. "Amy's been fussing over the origami book so I could teach her how to make one," She sighed. "I wish Lass will be back soon… he forgot to eat his breakfast before he left,"

Lire beamed. "I sure hope Ryan will come back alive along with Jin… those Drillmons could have attacked them any second now,"

The moment they headed downstairs to eat, Elesis sat on one of the chairs and ate a bar of chocolate. Amy feasted on her bowl of crab soup. Mari and Sieghart are still in the laboratory.

"Grazing again, huh…" Arme glanced towards the red-haired knight.

"What?" Elesis asked. "Amy didn't want to give me some of her crab soup!"

"Hey, you ate all of the chocolate cake Arme baked for all of us a week ago!" the dancer retorted. "You only saved the last slices for your _precious_ Ronan," she emphasized the word 'precious'

Elesis' cheeks turned red when she mentioned the Royal Guard Master's name. "He was hungry so I gave him some of my slices!"

Lire giggled from the knight's unusual flattery.

"Do you want to eat?" Arme asked. The archer nodded and sat beside the mage.

"Hey, Lire~" Amy called out to her. "Since you came here with Ryan, did you two have a date or something?"

Lire's cheeks flushed. "Err… no I – "

"Ignore her," Arme cut her off. "She just likes teasing people,"

Lire beamed again and proceeded to eat her congee.

" _Like what your mom said, you are destined to stay with_ me _…"_

" _Gaia lifted the curse and his transformation to a wolf became his gift and ability,"_

" _Your haven is just right next to Ryan's."_

" _You may do anything you want, Kaze'aze but not to destroy innocent lives!"_

" _Kill me, Kaze'aze, I'll sacrifice my life over my only daughter…"_

" _Mommy… please don't leave me… I… I love you!"_

" _I'll be expecting you and Ryan to be together someday…"_

The words from the people she knew flashed from her head. The last thought of her expected partnership with Ryan will soon… come true, if it _will_ …

"Lire?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw three pairs of eyes looking at her.

"Are you okay?" the mage asked.

"You've been acting weird ever since you arrived," Elesis told her.

"Maybe they _did_ go on a date," Amy whispered.

"Shut up, Amy," Arme glared at the dancer before glancing back at Lire. "Is there something bothering you lately?"

"N-no… I'm alright," Lire replied nervously. "I got tired from walking that's all~"

There was a long silence before Mari appeared followed by the cranky Sieghart.

"There is plenty of food left," Arme smiled. "Hurry before they get cold,"

"Finally," Sieghart yawned. "Geez, I wouldn't be hanging with a bunch of dames…"

Elesis grumbled. "Whatever, my so-called grandpa, just sit down and eat…"

"Well, he looks not like an old man…" Amy said. "Come to think of it, he looks cute~"

Sieghart rolled his eyes. "Girls these days…"


	5. Chapter 4: Illusions

Snack time is almost over when Arme went upstairs to her room for some magic research plus testing new spells. Amy and Elesis ran outside for their battle practice, which served as Elesis' revenge for Amy stealing her bar of chocolates in the fridge. Mari returned to her laboratory to work on her experiments written as documents stuffed inside the drawers. The ether tech had a lot of sleepless nights working on her failed experiments. As for Sieghart, well, let's just say he went back to his bean bag for his sleep.

The blonde-haired archer decided to go to her garden she managed after her temporary absence. The garden remained the same. The bushes still have the same fresh green color and the flowers opened up from their budding. She can see tiny butterflies sucking the nectar of the flowers and transferred to the other. The last time she saw those flowers were the time she and her mother exploring their own garden and her mother placing a white flower over her right ear.

She walked through the aisle, turning her head sideways and seeing the different colors of the flowers around her. Arme did all the gardening for her back then.

_I hope she didn't put any potion in it, otherwise I'll ambush her with a Freezing Arrow,_

Lire held her watering pot on her hand and watered each section. She heard noises, more like a violin whacked against the ground and slashing noises outside. She could tell Elesis and Amy having their battle practice.

* * *

Meanwhile outside the castle, the pink-haired dancer and the red-haired knight faced each other at the clearing located at their backyard. They stood on each other's grounds and held each weapons on hands. The wind blew briskly as they stared at each other's eyes in rivalry.

" _Remember, the one loses gets to be feeding the winner with tons of candy and chocolate!"_

" _B-but…"_

" _Hey, you always eat the food in the fridge and won't save for everyone!"_

" _Okay, okay, let's make it like this. The loser will sleep with Sieghart in his room, get it? As for the winner – "_

" _THE WINNER WILL EAT ANYTHING HE WANTS!"_

" _Fine…"_

The battle started with Elesis swinging her sword and lunging towards Amy. The dancer evaded the attack and ended up tripping on her own feet face down. She stood up and charged towards the knight holding her pair of chakrani behind and her pigtails fluttering behind her head.

"Still a klutz, eh?" Elesis taunted. She held her sword upright and the sharp tip of the blade gave a tiny glow. She suddenly leapt high when Amy swung her chakrani to attack. Elesis staggered backwards to evade her chakrani. It was then Amy spun forward with her hands holding the chakrani sidewards and she spun towards the knight and tripped again. Elesis sighed.

"When will you ever learn to balance yourself..?"

"Sowee~" Amy rubbed her head and stood up.

Arme stood not too far away from them and eating a bowl of popcorn, Elesis and Amy stared at her in shock.

"Arme, I thought you're doing a magic research!" the red-haired knight bawled.

"Well… I got bored from my research and decided to watch you fight for entertainment," the mage grinned and munched on her popcorn. Elesis pouted while keeping her eyes on the popcorn.

"Man, seeing that popcorn sure makes me wanna eat again,"

"Hey," Amy smacked her on the head. "What about our bet?"

Elesis snapped out of her thoughts and faced the dancer. "Oh yeah… right!" she prepared her sword on hand. "Now where were we?"

The mage munched on her popcorn while watching the two melees continue their battle practice. As for Lire, she stayed in the garden, looking after her plants. Some of their leaves became rotten and the beautiful petals of the flowers decayed. She picked up a dead flower on her hands and stared at the rotten petals on her palm. It reminded her about the death of her father burned alive by the Queen herself along with the druids.

" _This flower is the sign of purity…"_ her mother told her while showing her a small flower with white petals. _"It cleanses one's soul and the elders say this is also a symbol for solitude,"_ The woman placed the flower over her right ear where he pointy ears were small back when she was little.

Her child image giggled and clung on her mother's arm to search for more flowers. The rotten flower she is holding on her palm also reminded her of her parents' shattered lives. The pretty white flower, as an inheritance of solitude, remained on her ear when its short life ended.

The blonde-haired archer stared at the rotten flower once again before she let the wind blow it off her palm. The petals flew in the air until it disappeared out of her sight in the distance. She continued watering the flower bed beside her and let the watering pot pour water on the living organisms. Sprouts appeared on the fertilized soil as she watered them. She can see some flowers shedding their petals and the leaves of the plants exposed directly on the ray of the sunlight.

Her light green eyes caught their glances towards the water lilies. Another illusion came through her. She saw her reflection on the small pond in the garden and suddenly her childhood image rippled on the water. She stared at the same eye color of the girl's eyes and exchanged shocked looks with the image. She leaned forward to touch the image when it rippled again. It disappeared out of her sight and it revealed her teenage self, much to her dismay.

The archer sighed from complete sadness and continued her watering. Those precious illusions of her past still haunted her over and over. But why? Why can't those ghosts of her past die down in silence? Lire hopes those pasts won't drive her crazy… crazy enough to control her modern life. Illusions keep on appearing in her head when to her surprise, the orange-haired druid appeared before her eyes. He was in his younger self. Lire's younger self, five to seven years ago, chased after a butterfly with such colourful wings that it caught her eyes as well. The butterfly flew higher until she couldn't jump higher. She stared at the insect with complete sadness fly to the skies. But then, another butterfly caught her attention and she chased after it. She ran past a flower bed where she finds the trees of cherry blossoms shedding off their pink petals and making the little girl smile. The butterfly found its mate as they flew together towards the skies. Lire's blonde hair flew briskly as the cherry blossom petals filled the skies with pink dots. She found a dead rose below the cherry blossom trees. Its red petals turning black, the sign of its rotten state. She was about to run towards it when the orange-haired druid picked it up and stared at it intently. Lire stopped on her tracks and stared at the boy.

The boy muttered something under his breath before holding the dead rose in his hand. It was then he turned his glance at Lire. They locked glances at each other before the girl's cheeks turned red from embarrassment and ran away. The boy watched the girl leave all of a sudden as she disappeared in the flower bed.

Lire's another illusion went through her younger self playing all by herself in the flower beds and throwing flowers around the area gleefully. Butterflies flew above her head as she tried to catch them. She found herself running at a garden and waving her arms around freely, in her carefree state…

The blonde-haired archer was snapped out of her thoughts when three figures rolled inside the garden and breaking into frantic yells. Arme stood up as Elesis and Amy stopped her by pinning her on the ground and struggling to get a small flask of liquid from the mage's hand. Arme screamed for Lire when Elesis finally took the vile of liquid.

"Got it~" she grinned. She stared at the flask sealed with a cork. "Soo… what does this do?"

"N-no, Elesis, p-please don't," the poor mage pleaded.

Lire just gave them a blank stare and blinked.

Amy snatched the flask off the knight's hand. "Ooh~ maybe this is one of the love potions she made for Lassy~"

Arme's cheeks blushed deeply. She sat upright and struggled to get the flask out of the snotty dancer's hands this time. Elesis clamped her hand on the mage's face to stop her.

Lire sighed. "Uhmm… what are you doing?"

Elesis flashed a smile at her. "Oh Lire!" she let go of Arme and snatched the object from Amy. "We were having our battle practice when this little brat interrupted our scene with this vile!" She showed the flask containing a pale pink fluid inside. "Amy says it may be a love potion Arme will put on Lass' cherry pie _or_ on his drink so he'll – "

"SHUT UP!" Arme finally managed to get up and clamped her hand on the knight's mouth. "Don't listen to them, Lire, that's not even a love potion!"

"Oh please~' Amy broke in. "We know you're obsessed with your precious Lassy, ain't ya?"

The mage's face flushed. She squeezed her eyes shut and got the vile of liquid off Elesis' hand. "Stop messing with my stuff if you don't want to get yourselves fried,"

Lire sighed again. "Uhmm… you're messing up the garden..?"

Arme left the garden abruptly as the red-haired knight followed her behind, who practically seemed tired from the battle practice. Amy was left behind for a second before she approached the archer. "What's with the long face?" she asked.

The archer shook her head. "Oh… nothing," she held her watering pot on hand and continued watering the sprouts. The dancer stared at her suspiciously.

"Let me guess," she placed her hands on her hips. "You're worried about Ryan, ha?"

Lire's face flushed as her light green eyes stared at Amy in shock. "N-no, I-I was just… err… doing some kind of a…a… role playing!" she lied awkwardly.

"Role playing?"

The archer sighed. "Yes, Amy, I am worried about Ryan…" she confessed. "I hope he and Jin makes it back alive…"

The dancer smiled. "I knew you would…" she sighed. "Knight Master would usually send boys to do the missions while we stay here and train and clean…" The archer beamed and didn't say anything for a moment. "Well, we'll meet you at the living room after you water all those plants! I'll just go practice with my violin, okay?" She said as she sprinted out of the garden and Lire is alone once again.

 _W-why are these pasts still haunting me?_ She asked herself. _These are illusions from the past… the past! What are they trying to tell me? Are they making any sense?_

" _This white flower symbolizes the symbolism of solitude. They purify one's soul and sends eternal happiness to the person who owns it."_

_The illusions of myself running freely in the garden and chasing the butterflies are the things that made me happy. I thought the angelic smile on my face will forever be in my lips, but these all faded when my parents perished from Kaze'aze's invasion…_

_But who is this last person to make me happy again?_

_How can this person change my life forever and help me find a new life?_

Lire knew exactly who this person she's referring to.

 _What are you_ really _trying to tell me, Mom? Are you expecting more from me?_

The blonde-haired archer sighed and placed the watering pot on the small garden table. Deep sadness went through her as she left the garden, taking slow and light steps. She held her quiver and arrows with her and proceeded to the training field. Her hair flew briskly through the wind surrounding the area. There are bull's eye targets for her to fire her arrows. She placed an arrow on the quiver and pulled the string. She prepared her aim towards the bull's eye target distances away from her. She closed her other eye shut for major concentration.

_Just focus on your aim, Lire, you don't want to disappoint the rest of your comrades._

She twitched slightly and ignored the inner voice in her head. She focused for her shot when the voice echoed inside her head again.

_C'mon, Lire! Listen to what your parents say! They expect a lot from you and –_

The girl flinched and lost the energy to fire her arrow. She put down her bow and bowed her head, her eyes squeezed shut. She reopened them and lifted her head up to stare at the blank space. The eerie gust of the wind was all she could hear and her hair flying briskly within it.

_He's your friend since childhood and yet you didn't know him personally._

Lire struggled between heavy pants. _W-why… what are you trying to make me remember?_

Suddenly, the image of Ryan flashed inside her head. His strong green eyes staring at her grimly and his back turned on her. The boy looked behind him and she saw his green eyes once again looked at her darkly. Lire buried her face in her hands and fell on her knees. Her eyes started to leak tears as she pressed her sweaty hands on the ground in all fours, her bow and arrow clanked on the ground. Her hair fell like ocean waves and her tears dripped on the dirty ground.

"How could I not remember?" she sobbed. "After all these years… I knew him all along! B-but I never knew him personally… he just gives me an icy distance…"

She controlled herself from crying before Elesis, Arme, Amy, Mari and Sieghart hear her from the castle. She sighed and wiped off her tears. She sat cross-legged on the ground holding her bow and arrows. The sadness is still traced on her face as she stared up at the sky.

"Ryan…" she muttered under her breath.

"Lire!"

She turned her head behind rapidly as Arme stood distanced behind her. The mage's purple eyes stared at her in shock as she made her way towards her.

"What are you doing in here all by yourself?" the mage asked in a worried tone. "I looked for you in the garden and realized you were gone,"

Lire smiled weakly. "Sorry… I was just going for some training,"

Arme sighed. "You're starting to worry me, Lire… is there something bothering you?"

 _Do I have to tell her?_ The archer thought. She was lost in her own thoughts. The illusion of Ryan's dark and deadly stare still remained in her mind.

"Something about my…"

The mage stared at her intently. "Your what..? Please tell me… maybe I can help you,"

Lire stood up and took her bow and arrows. "It's… it's really personal, Arme," she said softly. "My past is haunting me and… I don't even know why,"

Arme gave her a slightly weak smile. "I understand you, Lire… Jin and I noticed how you're spacing out,"

"It's just I can't forget the time Kaze'aze destroyed our village and killed my parents!" Lire suddenly burst into tears. "I've wanted to pay her back… that is why I joined Grand Chase to banish her out of this world!"

"You know that's our main goal," the mage assured. "Don't worry, we all know about your past. If you think Amy is a person who blabs a lot of things, she leaves out the serious and the personal ones or what you call the detraction. She just spills everything that contains all the mischief we do from the old days," she explained. "And if you think Elesis is a tomboy, she respects your dignity."

The two entered back in the castle and find Elesis and Sieghart staring daggers at each other at the other sides of the table. Amy stands between them and holding two small flags on her hands. The sound of a bell reached their ears as Mari sat on the sofa reading her ether tech manual. It was then Elesis and Sieghart placed poked the table with their elbows with their sleeves rolled up. They clasped each other's hands and broke into their 'epic' game of hand wrestling to prove who the best swordsman is.


	6. Chapter 5: Out of Bounds

Amy stood between the two swordsmen sitting across each other and staring daggers. Elesis and Sieghart, despite noted as "long lost siblings", had this sudden challenge against each other with a little game of arm wrestling to prove which one of them is the best. The pink-haired dancer turned her head sideways to check for the audience: Mari reading her ether tech manual and Arme watching them with her lilac eyes widened in surprise. The blonde-haired archer blinked in confusion as if staring into blank space.

"Ready?" the dancer asked, with no humor in her voice.

The match started with the two warriors pushing each other's arms down to the table. Elesis' teeth gritted in anger. Amy stared at them with hesitation when her glance went towards Sieghart. He is known to be lazy but his rage makes him stronger. Dark purple aura would engulf him and, according to Elesis' lousy theory, Sieghart is an immortal with the guts to fight _and_ a gladiator who has a 'stalker' for the first time of his life. Well, it _is_ a bit clear that she is referring to the ether tech Mari, who has the curiosity towards Sieghart's gladiator skills. The two melees started at each other with rage and torment as their wrists can expose their veins.

"Uhh... what are they doing?" Lire whispered. The mage rolled her eyes. "Don't mind them. The dumb-assed redhead over there keeps on denying the fact Sieghart really _is_ her grandfather," she replied, referring to Elesis as a weenie with a sword. The mage turned her head towards Lire. "But hey, I have slices of cake just for the two of us. You can sneak a single slice for... _him_ ," Arme giggled when she said the word 'him'. Lire knew it was that mysterious druid...

The archer's face flushed. She smacked the mage's shoulder playfully before they sneaked inside the kitchen past the three, who as well are busy doing their arm wrestling match and couldn't figure out when this would end...

* * *

Lire went upstairs to her room after her private snack session with Arme. She looked through the books placed on the shelf beside her bed. The book entitled with the existence and extinction of her beings couldn't slip off her mind.

_"It's true many elves in the forest are getting really extinct,"_

Elves _are_ getting extinct. The elders from the Elven Corps are starting to retire and are living on their own inside their havens until they reach the end of their lives. Young elves are trained and recruited. Female elves stayed inside their havens for domestication. But for Lire, she had the courage to join the Elven Corps and the Grand Chase in behalf for her beings.

The painful memories of her parents' death changed her life, especially when her memories would _always_ include... _Ryan_...

 _This isn't what I wanted... why can't these painful memories fade?_ she thought. _W-why is..._ he _in my d... memories? Do I have to find a social attachment to end this icy distance?_

_Do it at the right time, child. You just met him._

* * *

A battered Drillmon crashed itself on the ground with a thud, blood leaking all over its body. A red-haired boy placed his foot over its corpse while staring back at the rest of the monsters torn limb from limb. An orange-haired druid placed his axe over his shoulder and panted in exhaustion.

"Looks like we got quite a haul," Jin wiped off a sweat. "Damn, the heat is starting to kill me,"

Ryan stood up and kicked off a dead Gon with his feet. A red health totem sat beside him. Jin approached him and together they sat on the totem for energy.

"Do we have to follow Ronan to the Gaikoz Castle?" the druid asked. The fighter replied with a shrug. "I don't know. If we do, we'll get ourselves torn limb from limb like the monsters here,"

"Well, you have the mission scroll, what does it say?"

Jin pulled out the mission scroll and gently unrolled it, careful not to destroy the weak material. "Let's see now..." with this he started to read. "Step one: Enter the Gorge of Oath, check! Step two: Slay the monsters, check! Step three: Defeat the Giant Drillmon. Step four: Retrieve its horn. And step five: Hmm... looks to me like taking a break,"

The health totem faded as the two stood up. "Alright, on to the portal," the druid stated. They raced through the gorges and found a glowing light waiting for them. As they stood on the portal, they faded from the light blue aura and transported themselves to the final destination.

The last Drillmons crashed on the ground as the blood stained them. A harpy extended its sharp talons towards Jin, who is charging himself with his burning energy when Ryan charged enough power to hit the beast with his axe. Then a beast with bright orange body and a deadly sharp sting faced them. Its pair of dragonfly wings helped him soar on mid-air.

"Giant Drillmon..." the druid muttered as he tightened the grip of his axe. "You ready, Jin?"

The fighter nodded, recharged from burning.

* * *

"Hey, Lire!"

The archer turned around and saw Elesis standing not too far away from her. "What's up?" she asked.

"I'm gonna go to the old weapon shops to buy myself a new sword, mind if you come along?" the knight asked. Lire replied with a reluctant nod. "Y-yeah uhh... sure~"

"Great~" Elesis smiled. "And oh, Amy wants to come along,"

Lire blinked. "Uhh... why?"

"Shopping," the knight replied. "Well no biggie, I darn needed clothes, too,"

 _Never knew Elesis liked shopping,_ the archer thought. She snapped herself out of it. "But what about Arme?"

Elesis snorted. "Nah, leave all the work to her. I told her we'll bring you along and we'll be back in a jiffy,"

Amy ran downstairs, her hair tied into curled pigtails and dressed in her Xenia's oracle oufit. "So, ready to go?" she asked. "Miss Goody-goody Lire is," the knight replied, jabbing her thumb towards Lire. "Alright, new sword here I come~"

The three girls rode on a horse-pulled cart with an old man ordering his horse to pull a little harder. Amy fanned herself with a straw fan as her face cascaded with sweat. Lire wore a straw hat with her hair tied into a ponytail. Elesis sat on a haystack, staring down at her shoes.

"How long is this gonna take before we get there?" Amy asked, fanning herself rapidly from the extreme heat.

The old man chuckled. "This won't take ya any minute now. Just a few more,"

Elesis groaned. "Can't this thing get faster?"

"This is our way of transportation, kiddo~" the old man replied. "We don't use a lot of electricity unlike the ones from the big cities," The knight grumbled. "Well, Lire _is_ used to this simple life. She's an elf, you know? She lives in the forest. They don't use electricity, do they?" The blonde-haired archer blushed. Amy just rolled her eyes.

"Elesis... always the impatient one,"

The trip took like twenty minutes before they reached their destination. They hopped off the cart when Elesis approached the old man. "How much do I owe you?"

The old man put a finger on his beard. "Let's see now... since my passengers are _little_ kids, I might as well take three silver coins from you,"

"But I thought the rides usually cost cents!" Amy bawled.

"The trip from the castle to this town is somewhat too far," the old man replied. "That's how we charge our passengers,"

"Fine..." Elesis sighed in frustration as she pulled out three silver coins from her money bag. She handed the money to the old man before he departed. The horse pulled the cartas it set off to another town.

The town is crowded with people exploring the shops and little kids pulling their parents' wrists and pointing to certain toy shops. The three girls walked across the aisle and looked sideways. One man sold his goats, chickens and piglets for ten to fifteen pieces of silver. Doves are locked up on wooden cages with the farmers taming them. At their left, two men stood behind a large table with elixirs and potions that differ in color and quality sitting on it. One potion placed inside a small flask shimmered and glistened.

"Hold it," Amy broke in, her glance fixed towards the potions. "Mari sent me to buy her some of those potions." Her forefinger pointed towards the flasks sealed with corks. She pulled out a scrap paper from her pocket and began reading. "Hmm... two flasks of slime goo, fountain water taken from the Fountain of Life and... aha! White incense," She approached the shop owners. "Uhmm excuse me, do you have the... white incense and the... phoenix tears?"

The man managing the potions bent down and opened the drawers. While he browsed, Elesis went off to the nearest weapon shop where the ancient shields, spears, swords and accesories caught her attention. Lire stayed with Amy while peering over to the displayed potions. The man stood up and on his hand held a flask with a clear and colorless fluid shimmering. "These tears came from the rarest mythical fire bird that once flew around the Kanavan kingdom."

Lire and Amy gasped in awe. "Too bad Elesis left in a jiffy," the dancer said. "After all, she is from Kanavan,"

"Elesis?" the man blinked in surprise. "You mean, the daughter of the tracker?"

"Err... yeah..?"

"Blimey~" the man bellowed, placing his large hand on his creased forehead in astonishment. "Are you the warriors of the Grand Chase?"

"Y-yes, sir," Lire nodded hesitantly.

"We've heard rumors about Miss Elesis' secret life back when she was just a little girl. Ahh, those memories... her father was a tracker and ooh, her grandfather Sieghart is once a skilled sword master. A shocking rumor spread about Sieghart reincarnated and was found lurking in the gorges of Kanavan!"

"Uhh... pretty, fascinating!" Amy nodded sheepishly. "So uhmm... then we need the white incence and two flasks of slime goo," the dancer reread the list to make sure she bought the right potions.

"What's that?" Lire asked, staring at a flask with shimmering golden fluid inside.

"The world's _luckiest_ potion," the shop owner replied. "When a person drinks the entire flask, he will experience complete luck for twelve hours straight. Excessive dosage of the potion may lead to presumption and worse, the growing attribute of ambitious personality,"

"Does it include aggression?" the archer asked.

"It depends on the consumer's condition," the man replied, handing the three flasks - two slime goos and the phoenix tears - to Amy. He even handed her a small blue duffel bag of the white incense. "That would be seven pieces of gold," he extended his hand out to them as Amy fished something out of her money bag. The pieces of gold sat on her palm and counted them. Seven. She placed them on the shop owner's large palm before heading to the weapon shop to fetch the red-haired knight.

"Elesis," Amy called. "You've been in there for like two hours!"

"Just a sec," the knight retorted, holding a Swiss knife on her hand. "This one looked interesting just in case you don't have any weapon on hand," she winked and proceeded to the counter to purchase the product and the new sword to the shop owner. "Do you have some of those realistic roses that'll send out spikes?" she asked.

"Eh?" Lire and Amy's jaws dropped.

"What?" the knight retorted.

"So you're gonna use that on Ronan?" Lire asked.

Elesis smirked. "No no no," she shook her head and let out a low sadistic chuckle. "For the two featured love birds in the castle: the mysterious Lassy and for that shorty, Arme," she giggled, placing the Swiss knife and the sword on the counter. The shop owner pulled out the product she asked for. He picked the one with the dark blue petals. "Perfect~ I'll also take that one,"

"Elesis never changed..." Amy sighed. "Oh, speaking of Lass, I wonder where'd he went off to? He should be back by now. Arme's so dead worried about him,"

"Maybe he summoned Ronan's dragon to take him home," the knight replied, paying her purchase. "...and that little Arme putting that love potion extract on that cherry pie she made for him,"

"And... what about Jin?" Amy's voice is half filled with worry. "That Giant Drillmon might have squashed him along with Ryan,"

 _Ryan..._ Lire felt herself twitch from the druid's name. Her light green eyes stared at blank space as her heart pounded wildly.

"Oww... looks like you got her extremely worried," Elesis chimed as Lire caught the two girls staring at her. Amy clamped her mouth with her hand. "Oops, I didn't mean to startle you, Lire... you know he and Jin are in the Gorge of Oath just like what the Knight Master assigned them,"

"N-no, it's okay," Lire replied with a weak smile. The druid's deadly stare suddenly flashed in her mind once again.

The three girls stepped out of the weapon carpentry as Elesis leads the way. "Next stop, clothes!" Amy punched the air and dragged Lire along.

"This one should fit better," Amy pried into one of the baskets containing the unique clothes compared to the ones hanging for display. Elesis is inside the fitting room where Lire carried all of the clothes she tried on. Amy pulled out a silk dress as it hung on her hand. "Ooh~ this dress looks good on you, Lire!" she smiled and threw it on the stack of clothes that almost buried the archer alive.

"Do you have to try all of these?" she asked.

"Not really," the dancer shook her head. "I'm only looking for accesories and skirts."

"I never knew Elesis liked shopping," the archer told her. "I knew her as a tomboy,"

"Nah, even if she's a tomboy, she has girly instincts. If she's a tomboy, she wouldn't have worn those sort-of mini skirts and tied her hair like Rapunzel's,"

"I heard that!" Elesis' voice boomed from the fitting room. Her head poked out from the curtain while changing back into her current armor. "Don't listen to that pumpkin-faced _troll_ , Lire. She's the whole reason why I got so 'girly' and 'sensitive',"

Amy gasped and controlled herself from outrage when Elesis called her a troll. "You know, all those girly instincts came from your character. Besides, you're a girl. Even tomboys have senses of fashion, you know?"

The knight pouted. "Once again, I've been thwarted by the youngest of them all," She stepped out of the fitting room in her current armor. The outfit she picked hung on her arm as she approached them. "Are you done or what?"

"Look," Amy unfolded the green sequined dress she picked earlier. "This _should_ fit Lire, don't you think?"

Lire formed a nervous smile. "Err... y-yeah..!"

"Try it~" the dancer shoved the dress towards her. "If you don't like it, we'll look for another one,"

"B-but I - "

" **No buts!** " Amy cut her off sharply. "Now get in there and make _mama_ proud~" Elesis' eye twitched and glanced towards the dancer as if she said something weird, which she really did.

" _Make mama proud... blah blah blah..!_ " she mimicked. "What kind of a quote is that?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" the dancer retorted.

While the two bickered, Lire held the dress in her arms and stepped inside the fitting room. She peeked through the curtain where Elesis and Amy argued. She sighed and took off her armor. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as her long blonde hair touched her skin. She stared towards the dress with curiosity and she put it on. The fabric felt soft when it reached above her knees. A feather boa fell on her feet and picked it up. She knew instantly that it is a choker. She shrugged and placed the choker around her throat. Once again she looked at the mirror.

The dress looked great. It fit her perfectly. She put on the last touch as the belt as it encircled around her waist. She peeked through the curtain as Amy stared towards her.

"C'mon, let me see how you look," she motioned for her to come out as the archer obeyed. She gulped and walked timidly towards them. Amy's brown eyes sparkled in awe while Elesis clamped her hands on her mouth to hide it from astonishment.

"I knew she'll look perfect!" the dancer squealed. "So... do you like it?"

Lire looked down at the dress. She couldn't take her eyes off its shimmering and soft fabric. "Err... sure, I-I'll take it,"

"Ooh goody~" Amy clasped her hands together.

"I wonder what would _he_ think when Lire shows up dressed like that," Elesis suppressed a giggle. Amy grinned. "Yeah~ I'm sure _he_ 'll get stunned,"

Lire blushed when it grew deeper when they emphasized the _he_. She went back to the fitting room to take off the dress and put her armor back on. While removing her dress, her eyes are fixed on her reflection. She never saw her almost naked image look so... beautiful. She shoved the dress away and grabbed her clothes when the image from the mirror rippled. She suddenly found herself staring at a pair of... strong _emerald_ eyes, giving her a cold and brittle stare. Lire staggered backwards with fear.

" _He is the one... he'll be yours someday, he'll own your heart and you'll be binded together as one,"_

The archer's lips quivered when she was snapped out of her thoughts. "Lire, are you done yet?" she heard Amy's voice right outside the fitting room. Lire stared back at the mirror and she saw her own self. She sighed in relief and hurriedly put her cothes back on. She stepped out of the room with the dress hanging on her arm as Amy snatched it from her. "We'll be paying for this while you wait, okay~?"

"Okay," she nodded and watched the pink-haired girl storm off with the clothes ready to purchase.

She sat on a bench and thought about the mysterious druid's image showing up on the mirror and the faint whisper haunting her head. Why would Ryan show up in her memories? Yes, her past has something to do with him. Both have their parents dead. Her mother destined her to be with him forever. But how can she cope with this situation?

" _I wish I'll get the opportunity to interact with him... but how?"_

A deadly stare from the pair of green eyes flashed in her mind. _I heard it just like what your mother told you. There were no witnesses... no other than me._

 _Ryan..._ Lire thought. She sighed and looked down on her shoes. _There's something in him. Something making me lure myself towards him..._

"Lire!" Elesis broke in and waved to catch her attention. The blonde-haired girl looked up and stood from the bench. Amy waved as well, carrying the shopping bags containing their new clothes.

As they stepped out of the shop, they faced the crowds of people once again. They walked across them when they found some people huddled around near them. The three girls exchanged glances as the crowd broke into a hubbub.

A dragon with red orange scales landed on the ground and tucked its wings behind. Elesis, Lire and Amy approached the beast and found a passenger riding on its back.

"Ronan!" Elesis called out. She saw the indigo-haired spell knight lying on his stomach on the dragon's back and bruised. He summoned his dragon to take him away from the Gaikoz Castle before the Anmon Scouts anf Dark Mages could kill him. He used all of his mana (energy) with all his might to slay the monsters. A Mongban almost squashed him when the dragon swooped in for rescue.

"Isn't that the Royal Guard Master?" a citizen murmured.

"Yeah, I heard he's a descendant from the Erudon family if I'm not mistaken,"

"Ronan!" Elesis stepped on the dragon's back and shook the guy. "What happened? Have you defeated Gaikoz?"

Ronan groaned and blinked. "Mmhh... E... Elesis..." he gritted his teeth from extreme pain. The red-haired knight hesitated and turned her head behind her. "Lire, Amy, I need some help here!"

Lire and Amy hurriedly approached the two knights and tended Ronan's wounds. "I'm afraid we don't have any bandages," the archer said sadly. Elesis sighed. "Alright, it's a good thing we're going home,"

"Hey, uhmm... Mr. Dragon!" Amy called, tapping the dragon's head. "Could you uhmm... take us back to the castle? You know... the one located in the - "

"The dragon knows where the castle is," Elesis interrupted. The dragon spread its wings and took flight. Ronan, injured and battered, lay his head on the knight's lap as the dragon flew all its way to the castle.

* * *

Arme pulled the oven lid open and the aroma coming from the cherry pie entered her nostrils. She put on her pair of bunny pot holders to protect her hands from the pie's heat. She placed the pie on the table and used her foot to slam the oven shut.

The mage stared at the newly-baked cherry pie and smiled. _Lass sure is gonna like it~_ she thought and shook off her pot holders.

She heard something rustling out from the bushes outside. She narrowed her eyebrow and poked her head out the window. No one was there. She just shrugged but before she can close the window, a blue scarf landed on her forehead, startling her as well. Arme looked up and found herself looking up into a pair of azure eyes.

"Hey," Lass greeted her when he landed on the window on his feet. "Didn't mean to scare ya~"

Arme pouted. "You startled me, Lass!" she bawled when the thief hopped inside. The sight of the cherry pie gave him a crooked smile.

"Huh. Bet that's for me, eh?"

The mage blushed and placed her arms behind her back. "Err... yeah. It is... I thought Elesis might eat it before you arrive,"

The thief snorted. "Nah, that _dumb-assed_ redhead would always eat everything in the fridge without saving some for the rest of us," he sat on the table as the mage seats beside him. "She will only save them for Ronan, as usual,"

"Oh yeah? Ronan can be like her sometimes. For short, both of them can be despicable. You know? Remember the time they turned you into a glob?"

"Don't even remind me," Lass replied grimly. "I've been thinking of ways to pay them back."

Arme giggled and held a butter knife to slice the cherry pie. "Let this cherry pie cheer you up~ it's your favorite!"

"Yes, please!" the thief grinned.


	7. Chapter 6: Helping Helps

Elesis turned her head sideways as the dragon's wings fluttered with great force soaring into the sky. Ronan's battered body lay on its back with his head resting on the knight's lap. Amy held the shopping bags on her hands while Lire looked behind to check for harpies following them behind.

"Ronan…" the red-haired knight muttered, staring at the indigo-haired spell knight twitching.

"We've gone way too far from the castle," Amy said. "We might _not_ be able to make it unless – "

"Cut it out, Amy!" Elesis yelled. "Ronan's in extreme pain, and I'm not gonna let him suffer like this so bad!"

"B-but what about Jin and… and…" Amy stammered when she turned towards Lire, afraid to say the druid's name that will make her even more worried. Lire's light green eyes told her she'd been worried all this time.

Elesis sighed. "Take us to the Gorge of Oath…" she told the beast as it flew to another direction. Lire smiled at the knight, who smiled back and staring at Ronan sleeping on her lap.

"Good thing we brought our weapons~" Amy smiled. "Let's just say I'll be using some of my pinky bombs with my explosive cannon ball~!"

 _Ryan…_ Lire thought. _I hope we'll make it there on time. Just make sure you won't get yourself beaten up…_

* * *

The Giant Drillmon pounded the ground with its sharp and metal tip and it sent fragments of rocks flying around the area. Jin crouched down to duck the flying rocks while Ryan used his nature shield to cover himself. The rocks bounced off the orange shield when the Giant Drillmon charged towards them. Jin used his fist to punch the beast directly on the stomach. The beast flinched and shook his head.

The shield breached when the druid tightened the grip of his axe. He was covered in bruises back when the Giant Drillmon pointed its giant horn towards him. Ryan used his hand to grip on the horn to defend himself and Jin.

"What are you doing?" Jin yelled, standing beside his comrade. "I've weakened that thing already!"

"Maybe you weakened an _ordinary_ Drillmon," the druid retorted, struggling from the Giant Drillmon's shove. The tip of the horn is inches close to his face. "Don't just stand there! Help me!"

The fighter prepared himself to burn when the Giant Drillmon gave in. It pushed the druid away and charged towards Jin. The red-haired fighter is just starting for his burning when the beast is lunging itself towards him.

The orange-haired druid fell on his stomach, his face meeting the dirty ground. He forced his eyes open and saw Jin dodging the horn jabs of the Giant Drillmon. Jin threw punches at the beast and there are sounds of growling and roaring in front of him. The druid struggled from the intense pain inflicted on him as he stood on his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut when he felt himself morphing into a forest wolf.

He ran in all fours towards the beast and the fighter and pounced on the Drillmon's back. The beast got Jin cornered against a dead end before it could finish him.

"About time," he spat.

The wolf growled and dug his paws on the Drillmon's skin. The monster growled and tried to shake him off his back. The wolf's teeth bit its back, causing the monster to growl in pain as well. He could taste of its blood. Jin tightened the grip of the monster's horn when it made a large crack. He's trying to split the horn into two… when he succeeded.

"You can let go now," he told the druid, still in his wolf form. The mutt pulled his jaws out of the monster's skin, shedding out blood. The Giant Drillmon collapsed on the ground, blood leaking from its back where Ryan bit on the spot. Jin made a disgusted face when he glanced at his friend with blood on his jaws/mouth. He just shook his head and held the broken horn on his hand.

The wolf nodded as if saying "Go on… do it now,"

The red-haired fighter nodded back and glanced at the almost dead Drillmon. He quickly shoved the sharp tip of the horn on its bleeding back, killing the monster on the spot. He stabbed the back throat of the beast, making it spurt out blood and stain his hands. Jin wiped off his forehead with his arm and sighed in relief. He glanced toward Ryan, who morphed back into his elf form with some of the beast blood on his lips.

"Mission accomplished," he grinned with a thumbs-up.

Ryan looked up in the sky when he finds a flock of harpies filling the air. The two warriors' eyes widened in shock, the Harpy Queen is with them. But how did she get in there?

"Damn," the druid cussed. "We got a couple of more to go,"

"B-but…" Jin hesitated. "How did the Harpy Queen know we were here?"

"Sounds to me like a _sixth sense_ ,"

"Well, if it is monster butt kicking we have, then it's our job to take them down," Jin clenched his fists. "C'mon, let's roll!"

* * *

The dragon's ears twitched and sniffed the air. He turned his head in a different direction in which his wings fluttered. He growled under his breath and flew in a different direction where he sensed something, or _someone_ in danger.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I thought we're going that way," Elesis pointed at the direction where they're supposed to be heading. "C'mon, Ronan is in serious pain,"

The dragon growled and flew off to the direction he turned. Elesis and Amy looked at the front. _They were going to a different direction instead of going to the castle._

"Where are we going?" the dancer asked.

Lire's pointed ears twitched. Her light green eyes suddenly trembled. Her heart pounded wildly and her hands controlled themselves from shivering. Elesis and Amy glanced towards her when they grew with worry.

"Oh no…" Amy frowned. "I think Lire felt someone in danger. And… it seems that she felt Jin!"

"No, Amy," Elesis shook her head. "You obviously know what that means when she's like that,"

The dancer nodded. "Ohh… right,"

The archer hesitated and pushed the two girls aside. She muttered the druid's name over and over. The essence of him got stronger when they caught sight of a flock of harpies below them. A large harpy flew at the center of the field above two warriors standing on their ground and keeping their stances steady.

"Jin!" Amy gasped.

The blonde-haired archer blinked back her tears. _Ryan…_

"We need to get down there quick!" Elesis urged.

The dragon obeyed and fluttered his wings. He flew himself down towards the Gorge of Oath grounds where Ryan and Jin stood, staring at the harpies in hesitation. Elesis hopped out of the dragon's back hurriedly, her new sword on hand. She turned before the dragon landed. "Lire, we'll be leaving Ronan with you while we take down those harpies, okay?"

Amy hopped off and left the shopping bags with her. "And these two~"

"B-but I – " the two girls left before she could speak. She sighed and stared at Ronan's bruised body on her lap. The shopping bags sat on her side and glanced at the two girls approaching the druid and the fighter. Lire dragged the spell knight's unconscious body along with her when the dragon fumed. She turned back and the beast nodded, motioning her to stay.

"A-Amy," Jin's cheeks turned red when he saw the dancer approaching. "W-what are you doing here?"

"No time to explain," the dancer hesitated. "Ronan's dragon knew you guys were here,"

Elesis turned her head sideways when a harpy extended its talons towards her. She smirked and slashed her sword towards the talons. The harpy screeched and fell on the ground, its legs cut into two from the blade stained in its own blood. She looked away from the distance where she saw the dragon with Lire and Ronan with him. "I hope those two won't get ambushed by the harpies,"

"Two..?" Ryan questioned.

"Oh yeah…" Elesis let out a weak smile. "Ronan got so bruised I sent Lire to tend on him for a while,"

The druid's green eyes widened in shock. _Lire…_ he thought. His pointed ears heard the archer's helpless wailing when he sensed two harpies making their way towards the dragon where she was… He morphed himself into a wolf and ran in all fours.

"Ryan!" Jin cried out. "Where the heck are you going?"

"I knew he'll be thinking of Lire…" Amy said softly.

Ryan ran in all fours and sniffed the air, picking up Lire's scent. The harpies flew _exactly_ towards them. The druid fumed and ran. The sight of the blond-haired archer with a battered spell knight with her riding on a dragon caught his gaze. Lire trembled when the harpies surrounded them. The dragon growled and sent out fire from its mouth. The rest of the harpies took care of the three warriors. But what matters to the druid is Lire must not be attacked.

Lire's fingers groped behind her when they touched her arrows and her quiver when Ronan groaned, turning. The dragon can't seem to flutter its wings due to the harpies distracting him. All he has to do is to breathe about fire. The blond-haired girl prepared for her shot and let an arrow hit a harpy straight on the chest. The beast screeched and fell on the ground with a thud.

"Ronan, wake up!" she hissed, shaking the spell knight awake. It was no use.

A harpy extended its sharp talons as they pushed her off the dragon and pinned her on the ground, landing on her stomach. Her bow fell out of her hands and struggled from its grasp. She looked sideways to find Ronan approached by a wolf with orange fur.

"Ryan…" her eyes widened at the sight of the druid.

The last harpy faced the wolf fuming. Ronan's battered body rested on the dragon's back while the beast continued to breathe out fire. The harpy dodged the attack and scratched the dragon by the face with its talons. The harpy then lunged itself towards Ryan, who crouched down like a puppy and ducked. Before the harpy could grab him like a helpless prey, the druid's jaws bit its talons. The harpy screeched and tried to shake him off. Lire reached for her bow but the harpy pinning her on the ground hindered. The other talon proceeded to cut her skin on her arm open. Ryan's green eyes caught sight of her in pain and controlled himself from the extreme rage.

 _I'm not gonna let that damn harpy do any harm to her,_ he thought. His jaws remained on the talons when he let go. He landed on his paws and faced the harpy once again. This time, it made its way towards Lire with the other harpy while he followed.

"What is he doing?" Elesis asked, her gaze locked on Ryan chasing after the harpy.

"I have a bad feeling those harpies are attacking Ronan," Amy replied. "And… ooh, it seems Ryan doesn't want to see Lire harmed~"

The knight rolled her eyes. "As if a stupid match maker like you can do that if Jin's in danger,"

"Hey!" Jin retorted. "You got that in vice versa!"

"Hmph~" Amy crossed her arms. "As if a dumb-assed weenie with a sword could save a lot of food rather than saving them for his perky precious Ronan," she mimicked Elesis' tone as her feedback.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALLED ME?" Elesis growled.

"Oops~" the dancer replied in a half-mocking tone. "I shouldn't have mentioned that in the first place,"

"Ooohh…" the red-haired knight fumed. "I'm gonna make you regret you said that," she hissed.

Jin sighed in frustration. "What's with the dames these days..?"

Ryan lunged towards the incoming harpy about to attack Lire. He gnawed on the harpy's wings, screeching and growling when the harpy landed on its back. Lire stood up, grabbed her bow and prepared her aim for the other harpy. She shot the harpy straight on the head as it fell down with a thud. The arrow remained stuck on its head with its own blood leaking.

As for the wolf, he gnawed on the last harpy's wing struggling to be free until he bit it like a toy. He tasted the harpy's blood, which turned out disgusting. He let go and spitted out the blood. He morphed back into his elf form and stood in front of the nearly battered harpy. He turned his glance towards Lire behind him and to the dead harpy killed from Lire's arrow. He knelt down and abruptly pulled out the blood stained arrow from its head as he held it on his hand. Lire twitched from the sight of the dark red fluid leaking out from the beast's head.

"Ryan, what are you – " the druid cut her off by facing her.

"I know what I'm doing," he replied. "We just need to get this _thing_ over here killed,"

The battered harpy fluttered its wings and prepared to retreat. Its wing shed with its own blood when Ryan threw the arrow straight to its back. The harpy fell on its stomach, leaving blood leaking from its back. Lire saw his lips stained in blood.

"What happened to your mouth?" she asked.

"Huh?" the druid blinked. He then knew what the girl meant. He wiped off his mouth from the mixture of Drillmon and harpy blood with his hand. " _Disgusting_ ," he hissed.

Lire placed her hands behind her back. "Ryan… I… I'm so worried about you," she said. "I… I thought you and Jin would have been terribly killed,"

"You don't have to," the druid replied, looking away. " _I_ should be the one worried. You know? I don't know what would have happened to you in the castle,"

"I was doing fine, really," the archer replied. "I was just having a… _delirium_ ,"

"A _what_?" He looked behind, his green eyes staring at her in curiosity.

"N-nothing," Lire hesitated from her words. The druid shot her a half deadly stare. She flinched at the sight of them. She had seen them in her mind… Ryan's back turned on her and his head looking behind his shoulder, his eyes filled with a dark and grim stare…

"Hmm," the druid looked away. " _That_ doesn't seem like a mental disorder to me. Something about your past haunting you. Well, you're not the only one,"

The two elves ran towards the three warriors still distracted from the rest of the flock. Jin's fury fists knocked down three harpies. Elesis' new sword slashing several harpies and staining the ground with blood and Amy clumsy dance and fighting moves seem not to hit any harpy. Instead, she just used her cannonball to throw out pink-colored bombs and causing a lot of explosion.

"Lire!" Elesis panted. "W-where's Ronan?"

"The dragon kept him safe," the archer replied. "Nothing's gonna happen,"

"He's not there," Ryan chimed. "I saw him scamper away from his dragon,"

The knight gasped in shock. "What!"

"Don't blame her, Elesis," the druid retorted. "Lire got attacked by those harpies before she could save him,"

"You should have stopped him, Ryan!" the knight yelled. "He would have been _killed_!"

"Elesis, just calm down," Lire told her. "I did everything…"

The knight frowned. "It was my fault… I shouldn't have left him…" She suddenly sniffed and her eyes are starting to leak tears.

Just then, a figure leapt out of the gorges and landed on his feet. A spell sword armored on his hand and his indigo hair flying briskly in midair. Elesis wiped off her tears and turned around. Her red eyes widened in shock…

Ronan stood at the center of the filed below the flock of harpies and the Harpy Queen crowded in the skies. Amy and Jin smiled at the sight of him when the spell knight gazed upon the Harpy Queen staring at him as if he is her prey…

"Ronan!" Elesis cried.

The spell knight raised his sword, stabbed the ground abruptly and yelled.

" **Kanavan Strike!** "

A light blue magical circle appeared on the ground, sending out spiritual swords bursting out of the ground and hitting the entire flock. The harpies fell from the sky to the ground, leaving the Harpy Queen flying alone above them.

"Aim for it," Elesis nodded towards Lire, the only member of the crew who owned bow and arrows. The archer nodded and prepared for her arrow. She aimed for her shot when the Harpy Queen curled herself like a ball and shoot out its sharp feathers.

They ducked by shielding themselves with their arms. Before Ryan could create a shield around himself and Lire, a feather stabbed his arm. He growled in pain and saw his arm stabbed by the feather and his blood leaking down his skin. He grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. Lire's focus faded and approached the druid. The sight of blood scared her.

"Do it now..!" Ryan hissed, stopping her.

"B-but you – "

"Don't worry about me, just **shoot** it!"

Lire nodded reluctantly and prepared her arrow. She let go of the quiver and sent the arrow flying. It successfully hit the Harpy Queen's wing.

"Fire more!" Elesis urged. Amy threw more bombs at the queen that they barely hit her. One bomb exploded on the harpy's head.

Lire fired a volley of arrows, some barely hit the harpy. Due to the serious injury, the Harpy Queen screeched and flew away in retreat.

"Huh," Jin scoffed. "Looks like we'll handle her next time,"

"Mission _accomplished_!" Amy punched the air.

Elesis hurled herself towards Ronan. "Ronan! Y-you're alive,"

"Of course I am," the spell knight chuckled. "If I haven't got Holy Inferno ability, yes, I would have been dead,"

The knight giggled. "It's time for the cake slices I've saved for you~"

"Really?" the spell knight blinked. "You did..?"

Amy grumbled. "See? I told you she'll only save that food for Ronan," she hissed.

"Don't mind her," Elesis said. "She just wants to do the same thing for Jin,"

"HEY!"

Lire looked back at Ryan clutching his bleeding arm. She approached him and helped him walk. "Let me do it," she said. "We'll wash it by the time we get back to the castle,"

The druid looked away from her. "Fine, just don't do anything to make it worse,"

The girl flashed him a weak smile before the crew rode on the dragon and they took flight.


	8. Chapter 7: Night Time Bond

The dragon made it back to the castle and he landed a few distances away from the castle. The crew hopped off his back, carrying the shopping bags with them and their weapons. Elesis even got her new sword brandished while Amy skipped and swung the shopping bags with her. Lire blushed at the fact the dancer forced her to buy that pretty green dress in case _he_ asks her out for a date. But the thing that worries her right now is Ryan.

His arm got stabbed by a Harpy Queen's feather and it dug on his skin deeply. The bleeding had gone worse. They made it to the doorstep when Arme opened the door for them.

"What took you guys so long?" the mage asked.

"I guess we got a little side-tracked," Jin rubbed his head, his face red from embarrassment. Amy poked him on the elbow.

Arme welcomed her friends inside when they saw Lass lying on the couch. The plate sitting on a small table beside him is loaded with crumbs. The thief's lips are marked with cherry pie crumbs and fillings when Elesis and Amy gasped. They glared at Arme and staggered towards her.

"How come you didn't bake that pie for us!" the knight complained. The magician smiled nervously. "Err… Lass got so _addicted_ to the cherry pie that he ate the whole thing~"

Amy crossed her arms and smirked. "Hmm, bet you put some of that love potion, ha?"

"NO I DIDN'T, and why would I?" Arme retorted.

"Hey, hey!" Jin cut off the fight between the three girls. "You don't have to accuse Arme to be selfish, you know? Besides, she is right. Lass _really_ liked the cherry pie," he said with a wink towards the mage. His glance turned towards the shopping bags Amy is holding. "Ooh, what are those?"

"Clothes~" the dancer replied. "Guess what? We bought Lire a new dress!"

Arme smiled and clasped her hands together. "Oh my~ you did? Can I see it?"

Amy jabbed her thumb at Lire. "Not until you ask permission from her, **shorty**. She'll get mad if she sees any stain on this fabric," The magician fumed from her provoke when she turned towards the archer. "I hope you didn't let that pumpkin-faced troll pick a dress that'll make you look horrible,"

"Oh uhh…" Lire hesitated. "O-of course I won't mind. The dress was pretty, though. It gave me a perfect fit,"

Amy pulled out the dress from the bag and the green fabric gave a smooth and admiring texture. The sequins and the beads glistened and sparkled. Arme clasped her hands together and grinned. "Ooh~ it is pretty, Lire~ how much did you get from it?"

Elesis sighed. "Four gold and three silver coins," she replied.

"We bought this dress in case Lire go out on a date," the pink-haired dancer said. She folded the dress and handed it to Lire. "Take a look at mine, I'll show you,"

While Amy shows off her dress to the rest of the crew, Lire beamed while holding the green dress on her hands. She blinked in surprise when she finds Ryan nowhere to be seen. She ran upstairs to her bedroom and placed the dress inside her wardrobe. She noticed Amy stuffed some of her own clothes inside the wardrobe as if they're worn out or out of style. The archer sighed and shoved her dress inside. She looked out her window and pushed the curtain aside. The sky turned darker red and saw the orange orb starting to sink to the bottom of the ocean from the distance.

She stepped out of her bedroom when she ran smack into Mari holding her ether tech manual on hand. "Oh hi, Mari, have you uhmm… seen Ryan somewhere around?" she asked.

The cerulean-haired girl pointed towards the other window where she referred to the trees at the side of the castle. The archer smiled gratefully and ran downstairs. She glanced towards Amy, Arme and Elesis bustling on the couch and talking about their town experience while Ronan, Lass and Jin fighting over the chocolate and white chocolate sweets placed on a large bowl. Sieghart remained on his bean bag and curled himself to sleep with a lazy butt.

 _Where the heck is he?_ Lire thought, looking around the area. She gave in and walked outside. The sky grew dark as the flowers have budded. She can see the trees above her and the raccoons hiding inside their nests. The girl walked further, her ears hearing the noise of the crickets chirping. She then spotted the small pond revealing her reflection. She stared at it in sadness and tried to forget the flashback of her younger self haunting her. She sighed when another reflection appeared beside hers.

Ryan sat near the pond few distances from her. He stared at his own reflection when he turned to have a good look at her.

"Ryan," Lire said with a weak smile. "What are you doing in here?"

"Funny," the druid replied, looking away. "I was gonna ask you the same thing," The archer frowned when she stared at the terrible wound on his arm. The blood dried after several minutes and it seems it gave out a non-satisfying result.

"Ryan… y-your wound," she hesitated. "I told you earlier I'll clean it up,"

"Fine, go on," the boy replied without any expression at all.

Lire pulled out a clean cloth and dipped it on the pond. She squeezed out the excess water and brushed the wet cloth on his skin. The water felt slightly cold as she gave his wound a small bath. She applied herbal leaves and used their sap to get rid of the dirt and the unwanted infections on the druid's terrible wound. Ryan grimaced from the pain. Lire finally took out a roll of bandage and wrapped it around his arm. She tied a knot to keep it secure. Lire noticed the druid looking away from her and staring at the trees. She followed the path he was looking at when she realized it was his pet raccoon trying to get himself down.

The raccoon wore a light green and dark green striped shirt and held a large leaf as its 'weapon'. The little guy fell on the bushes and awkwardly walked out of them. Lire giggled at its cute appearance when the raccoon wiped off the dry leaves off its fur.

"Is that your pet?" she asked.

Ryan simply nodded. "He's been wandering around the forest for days just to look for its missing socks,"

"He wears socks?" the archer blinked in surprise.

"The ones he took from those poachers few weeks ago. They're disgusting,"

The raccoon ranted and scampered away. Ryan watched it go when his glance turned towards Lire. "Worried about your past, huh? You're not the only one coping with that situation," Lire frowned. The flashback of her carefree state flashed in her mind and the pure white flower symbolizing solitude and purity.

"Uhmm… Ryan?" she muttered. The druid looked at her with the corner of his eye. "You told me earlier… you know my parents very well. The ghosts of the pasts are haunting me about… not knowing you that personally and… me destined to be with… you," she said in a low voice while staring at her reflection on the water.

"A dead rose is the trace of your existence," the druid replied. "I saw you in a flower bed playing when I found that dead rose. It's the prediction of you broken from the inside. And it happened," he cleared his throat for a moment and continued. "I watched your every move back then, until I've witnessed your mother's death while you entangled in Kaze'aze's clutches. Our parents died on the same day… and you sleeping on your bed while being watched by the Lady,"

"L-lady?" Lire's light green eyes gazed upon him in shock.

"We are elves. We can sense danger lurking nearby,"

"Ryan, h-how did you know about this? T-that _lady_ , and…" the archer cleared her throat and closed her mouth. She can't find the right words when the druid continued. "Soon, Kaze'aze will treat you like how she treated our fellow Druids. Beings my own race is almost extinct and the downfall of the Druids is uprising. I have a bad feeling I'll be the last druid left," he squeezed his eyes shut as his hands balled into fists.

 _He's right. He might be the last druid standing._ Lire thought. She stared at the druid with pity. Deep inside, she's completely broken.

"There has to be someone to pull me together again…" she whispered. "Someone to make me happy and healed,"

"What?"

Lire snapped herself out of her thoughts. "Oh uhh… nothing," and sighed sadly.

Ryan stared at the girl. Traces of suspense and confusion went through him. He saw tiny drops of Lire's tears leaking down her eyes. He resisted the annoyance of seeing her cry. His hand grabbed her wrist, causing the archer to snap herself towards him in surprise.

This time, the tears fell heavily on her cheeks when Lire wiped them off with her arm.

"If your past is haunting you, you should get over them otherwise you'll make a misery out of yourself," they stared into each other's eyes as the druid squeezed her arm. "Your parents are dead, and so are mine. Ever since we joined the Grand Chase, our lives have changed. They're like our new family now,"

"B-but Ryan, I still love my parents. My father sacrificed his life and my mother did the same for my sake. M-my memories always picture of my younger self with my family… and this strange image of…"

"Strange image of _what_?" Ryan stared at her, full of demand and curiosity.

Lire squeezed her eyes shut. "N-never mind," she hesitated. Her eyes stung as tears continued to leak. "M-my past will always remind me of my sorrows…"

"You can think about your past but it sounds _not_ normal," he said. "We can go over our pasts but we cannot change them. They happened already. Kaze'aze still exists and now she's out to get **you** ," Lire bowed her head in complete sadness. She wiped off her tears and sniffed. "You're right… she wants me to end up like my mother."

Ryan let go of her arm and stared at his reflection. " _ **But you have me**_ ," The archer looked up at him as her light green eyes stared at him in shock and surprise. His face has gone blank. The soft gust of the wind rippled their water images.

" _I've known you for years, yet you brace yourself like a cocoon thinking I'm some kind of a plague. But deep inside, I can feel something in you,"_

"Ryan…" the blonde-haired girl muttered under her breath. She looked away from him and whispered, "I… I'm sorry,"

The druid's about to act when he grimaced, his wound bleeding again and this time the bandage has turned crimson. Lire looked back at him and quickly removed the blood-stained cover. She hurriedly washed the blood leaking on his skin before proceeding to wrap a new bandage. The gust of the wind gave her the chills.

"You feel cold?" he asked. The girl nodded, shivering. One thing surprised her: he is wearing a singlet armored with a vest that has no sleeves. His fingerless gloves are armored with a thick wrist bands. Somehow he _must_ be feeling cold, too. But he doesn't mind. Lire moved towards him and rested her head on his shoulder. Ryan made a small groan and slung his arm on her shoulder. The girl's cheeks flamed red as the druid pulled her close to him.

Lire felt the warmth of his body as they let the wind brush their cheeks. Her eyes began to feel heavy as she closed her eyes. She rested her head on his shoulder that it is almost close to his neck. Ryan moved his head slightly and stared at her peaceful face beside him. Careful not to touch his wound, Lire snuggled herself towards him and groaned.

 _She looks peaceful and vulnerable when she sleeps,_ the druid thought, his gaze locked on her face. He found himself blushing but he later shook them away. His strong emerald gaze transferred to the sliver glow of the moon. He imagined Gaia brushing her fingers on the crusts of the moon and guiding the druids and warriors in their late night journeys.

Ryan heard the noises of Lass and Ronan racing each other to the uppermost of the castle as their footsteps clattered on the stairs. Elesis and Jin standing on the battle field and continuing their battle practice. (Somehow the two redheads are doing more like fighting than practicing) Amy stayed inside her room doing her practice pieces with her violin. The soothing melody of this musical instrument brought music to the elf's ears. The druid looked at the sleeping archer once again. Her eyes twitched.

 _She's having a nightmare,_ he thought. Slowly, he got up and hoisted Lire in his arms. The girl's head rested against his chest when she muttered his name. The druid walked back towards the castle carrying Lire like a princess. Amy noticed him by the time Ryan's walking towards the stairs.

"What happened to her?" the dancer asked. Traces of worry can be seen on her face.

"She fell asleep," the druid replied. "I'm taking her to her room,"

The dancer sighed in relief. "Sure, Ryan, it's on the second floor to the right. You gotta be careful. Her room is just near Mari's lab,"

The green-eyed boy walked upstairs with Lire on his arms. Ronan and Lass' footsteps are heard inside Mari's laboratory where they seemed to have awakened Sieghart from his sleep. Those two are gonna be in extreme trouble if the gladiator gives in and goes outrage…

Lire's door is open when the druid entered inside. He found her bed when he put her down. It was then he fled and went to his own room. He shared the room with Lass when the thief entered inside the room and slammed the door shut, panting.

"Oh, Ryan," he smiled. "Where were you, anyway? You should have seen Ronan when he stumbled on Sieghart by _accident_ ," he broke into a hearty laughter as he covered his mouth to hide it. Ronan's screams and Sieghart's frantic yells behind the door explained it.

"Sieghart, stop!" Mari chased after the raging gladiator chasing after the spell knight.

"I said I was sorry!" the guy retorted.

Lass opened the door slightly as a perky grin spread across his face. "Oooh-whee~ look at 'em go!"

Ryan didn't mind the noise coming from the kitchen (where Amy and Arme agreed to bake another cherry pie). Their room is just right next to Lire where she stays there all by herself.

_There has to be someone to pull me together again…_

_Someone to make me happy and healed…_

_**But you have me.** _

Ryan tucked himself on the bed, leaving Lass taking off his scarf and throwing it on his own bed. The silver-haired boy grinned at him.

"Good night buddy, sleep tight!"

"Back at ya, bud," the druid chuckled as he put himself to sleep.


	9. Chapter 8: Unknown Forest

" _Mommy… Mommy…"_

" _There's nothing you can do, Lire, it's the only way to save you,"_

" _How does it look like? There were no other witnesses than me,"_

" _You're starting to make me worried, Lire, is there something bothering you?"_

" _Stay with him…"_

_Stay with him. Stay…_

* * *

The next morning the Knight Master sent them on various missions, handing them out the scrolls with their said destinations. They spread out in different places when the two elves found themselves left alone. Lire sat on the ground, her bow and sheath of arrows strapped behind her back. Her long blonde hair is tied into a ponytail like she usually does. Ryan sat next to her, holding his battle axe behind. The skins of their arms slightly pressed against each otheras the archer glanced towards the skeptical druid.

"Where are supposed to go?" she asked.

"Right here," the orange-haired druid replied, not looking back. "We're just sitting here and wait for the monsters to ambush,"

"Why did the Knight Master sent us for anyway?"

"I'm not really into missions like this," he told her. "I'm supposed to take a journey to the Forest of Life in Xenia to see Gaia. Lich used Druids, my own beings nearly extinct, the perished Druids and used necromancy on them and use their rotten bodies as fallen warriors,"

Lire remembered Clovis announcing the sudden resurrection of Lich back when the ceremony with the Elven Corps has just begun.

"That's why I'm asking for Gaia's guidance to stop Lich and restore peace and justice,"

The archer frowned. "But what about Kaze'aze… s-she killed our parents, destroyed the population of the elves and… wanted to take over the Bermesiah for her own selfish desires,"

"And we're putting a **stop** to it," Ryan finished as he stood up. The blonde-haired archer stared at him in shock and stood up as well. She grabbed her bow and prepared her sheath of arrows. The ground shook and the breaking down of trees broke the silence. Their pointed ears earned good hearing when they sensed an enemy approaching. A monster with mossy green skin and yellow tusks coming out of its slimy lips broke through the trees. It has tree trunks and wood stuck on his back and an enormous body. Ryan is driven to his rage when the Moss Monster destroyed one of nature's mankind. He balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. Lire trembled seeing him in outrage.

_Shoot! Shoot some arrows, Lire! Don't just stand there!_

Lire hesitated and grabbed her bow. She did what she was told as the arrows stabbed the monster at the stomach, some bounced off his body. The orange-haired druid morphed himself into the fierce beast he would always transform. He ran in all fours and pounced on the Moss Monster, sinking his claws on its sickly green skin. Ryan's menacing green eyes gazed towards Lire, telling her to run.

The blonde-haired archer staggered backwards and found a safe place for cover. She took a peek when she finds the druid in his wolf form gnawing the Moss Monster like what he did with the harpy and the Giant Drillmon. The Moss Monster seems to be flinching from his jaws and shaking him off. Couldn't stand the commotion, Lire prepared two arrows on her quiver and aimed towards the beast, careful not to hit the wolf otherwise…

_H-how can I shoot when there're two of them in my same aiming?_

Leaving it no choice, she fired the two arrows at the same time, flying and stabbing the Moss Monster on the back. One arrow almost hit Ryan near his snout. He fumed and shot her a glare.

"Sorry…" she squeaked.

The wolf leapt off the beast. The Moss Monster staggered on the forest ground, struggling from the arrows all over its body. But it didn't seem to leak too much blood that looked more like slime. The beast's large hands abruptly pulled the arrows off his moss-covered body, the sharp tips of the arrows stained in dark reddish blood… darker than a human's blood.

Ryan morphed back into his elven form, his lips stained with little droplets of the beast's blood. He grimaced in disgust and spitted it all out. He wiped his mouth with his hand as he grabbed the archer's wrist. "We gotta look for some shelter, c'mon!" Lire nodded reluctantly and felt herself pulled from his strong grip.

Lire let out a loud gasp when her leg caught something that kept her from moving. The two elves exchanged glances and stared down at their feet. What made them saw made their eyes widen in shock.

Ugly, horrible-looking plants with yellow-green bulbs as their eyes and their mouths almost similar to a venus flytraps' suddenly appeared on the forest grounds. The vines that served as their bodies entangled themselves around their feet. The Moss Monster made its heavy footsteps towards them and the tiny beady orbs as its eyes stared at them as its prey.

"W-what are these _things_?" Lire stammered, struggling to pull herself from the carnivorous plants' grasps. "I haven't seen plants like this here in Bermesiah – "

"That's because we're already **half miles away** from Bermesiah!" Ryan cut her off sharply. "But that doesn't mean we're half miles close to our destinations."

"W-what do you mean?" Lire hesitated while pulling out one foot from the aggressive vines. "Hurry, that monster's gonna kill us in a moment!"

"Xenia's not the only continent where _these_ plants exist," the druid retorted. "Certain places and forests like this one. **This** forest I haven't seen before compared to the others and… I don't even **know** what this place is!"

The Moss Monster growled and went its way towards them. Lire grimaced. "Ryan, we have to leave this _unknown_ place! I don't why would the Knight Master send us here to this forest we never knew!" The archer growled in pain when a Carnivorous Plant spit out a poisonous seed on the skin of her leg. " **RYAN!** "

The druid gritted his teeth in rage, his green eyes glaring behind towards the Moss Monster and the carnivorous plants entangling their feet. He grimaced and swung his axe around to tear the vines and split them open. Dark reddish blood squirted like tiny fountains as the plants let out squeaking sounds as if they got shot by poachers. He grabbed Lire's wrist with his free hand and the axe, its blade stained with plant blood, on the other. They stomped on the other monstrous plants about to entangle on their feet. Lire got her ankles stained with blood. She looked behind the Moss Monster following them behind.

"How can we keep that _thing_ from following us?" she growled.

"Follow me," Ryan simply replied. Lire stared at the small droplets of her own blood where the plant shot her the poisonous seed. Her heart pounded wildly that she feared the poison should have rushed inside her veins. "We're gonna find cover before getting that _thing_ shot on the **head** ,"

 _Shot on the head..?_ Lire thought, her eyes filled with something that gave her an idea. She stared at her bow and tightened her grip on it. _I haven't done that before. I'll just… give it a_ try.

A wood covered in moss flew itself towards Lire. Her eyes widened mixed with fear and shock. The Moss Monster must have given it a good aim as it went its way towards her head.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Ryan launched himself at her and felt his strong arms grasp her arms and encircled around her back. Lire blushed when her face made contact on his shoulder. Both were pounded and scraped on the carnivorous plant-free ground when the mossy wood hit a tree trunk with great force like an arrow that earned a good aim at a target.

The druid looked behind his shoulder with the Moss Monster few distances behind them. Lying on her back on the ground, Lire slightly trembled not when she felt his warmth.

"We'll get rid of that _thing_ right **now** ," he mouthed. "It's wrecking all the trees and disrupting its ecosystem," Lire have to agree with him. She's _also_ a nature guardian herself. She _has_ to be with him.

"Aim on the head," he ordered when they later found a safe covering place behind a boulder. "It will knock it unconscious. Leave the rest to **me** ,"

The archer replied with a stiff nod. She reached for an arrow and positioned it on the quiver. She focused on her aim, half of her gaze on Ryan's grim glance towards the monster. The Moss Monster used its heavy and slimy hands to grab a tree branch and munch on the strange-looking berries, the fruit juice staining its mouth. Lire fumed and stretched the quiver a little more.

 _I have to do it._ She thought, her eyes focusing on the monster with intent. _Aim it_ _ **straight**_ _on the head._

Her fingers let go of the quiver, allowing the arrow to fly with speed towards the monster. Lire's heart pound wildly, hoping the arrow will do what she asks for. She crossed her fingers on her lap when she heard a faint _thunk_ of an arrow.

" **Head shot** …" both elves muttered.

The Moss Monster gasped and let go of the tree branch, dropping several berries on the ground. The arrow is fired directly on its head. The _side_ of his head. The monster opened its slimy mouth wide , staggered like crazy, and collapsed on the ground. The two elves approached the unconscious beast lying on its back. Ryan knelt down and saw the direct hit of the arrow on its head. He rested his hands on its large hand where he located its wrist to check its pulse. He felt faint and tiny beats as he stood up.

"I told you it will only knock it unconscious," he said to the archer. "The skin is too thick that any kind of range object barely reaches its insides." His gaze turned towards plants that looked like bonsais when he saw small berries that they bear. He stepped towards them and picked one tiny berry. It had a black and dim skin when he split it into two, revealing the purplish juicy pulps inside.

"What is that?" Lire asked, standing a good pace behind him.

"A _poisonous_ berry," the druid replied grimly. "Druids say when eating this, the consumer dies instantly before it can reach his stomach,"

Lire gasped when Ryan met her gaze behind. "Take as many berries as you can. I know exactly what to do,"

The blonde-haired archer nodded stiffly and did what she was told. Both elves abruptly picked every berry from the bonsais that bore the same fruit until their hands are full of the tiny black berries. Ryan squeezed one berry on his hand when it burst out its juice sap when he tightened his fingers around it. Dark purplish fluid oozed on his hand like leak. "Squeeze out the sap. We'll feed it on this critter over here," he said with his glance on the limp Moss Monster, its mouth wide open.

"Y-you mean…"

The druid nodded towards her, leaving her no other choice.

Lire curled her fingers around the berries altogether and tightened the squeeze. The berries burst like tiny balloons when she felt something cold. Her skin stained purplish fluid and let it form droplets into the monster's mouth wide open. Ryan's berries were almost ran out of juice sap when he threw the squashed skins in the beast's mouth, not minding his hands armored with a pair of fingerless gloves stained with the berry saps. When Lire have done with hers, she wiped her hands on her shirt and snatched her bow with her sheath of arrows strapped around her back.

 _Great, now where are we going?_ The archer thought to herself. She kept a good pace behind the orange-haired druid with his axe over his shoulder. They walked past the trees and the carnivorous plants inhabiting the area ready to crawl on them and twine themselves around their skins. They walked across a small bridge over a small pond where strange eels and tiny Hungry Ghosts used it as their habitat. The faint color of the water is pale and looked somewhat _polluted_ that no ordinary fish can survive in it.

"What was written in that mission scroll?" Lire questioned with extreme curiosity. The druid responded when he took out the scroll with the material made from old parchment. The edges are quite torn and it seems to be reducing its brownish and yellow color. There the Knight Master's crafty handwriting scribbled the parchment.

_Enter the northern east side of the Elven Forest and search for certain clues to identify the name of the forest you just encountered. Explore this unknown forest. Destroy the monsters inhabiting that area and restore the forest back to life from the clutches of –_

Ryan blinked in surprise when he finds the next words written on the parchment torn. He rolled the parchment back when he first took it out. "Guess we're going on a _real_ mission to save this whatever this forest's name is,"

"Can we really do it ourselves?" Lire almost hesitated, hiding the fear making her heart pound wildly.

"We can _if_ we're lucky enough to find allies," the druid turned to walk as the archer followed him behind.

"I don't even know this is **part** of the Elven Forest. The only thing I know my hometown Eryuelle Island is located at the southeast."

"So do I," he said. "Well, since I _might_ be the last druid left standing, this leaves me no choice but to save this forest from that so-called villain's clutches,"

 _So-called villain..? What's he talking about?_ Lire asked herself when both elves spotted a mini cavern not far away from where they're standing. "I see shelter nearby," she said with a weak smile.

"That's where we're heading all along," Ryan assured. "Shelter and food are the common priorities when going on adventures like this,"

"Uhmm… I-I got some food with me," Lire told him. "Maybe we could find some water,"

"C'mon, we're burning daylight," the druid led the way towards the mini cavern where their nostrils caught the scent of fresh water. The cave is small and enough for them to stay in. Lire put her bow and sheath of arrows on the ground and wiped her forehead with her arm. Ryan was nowhere to be seen. The place where the fresh water's scent came from is just beside the cave. The crystal-clear water caught her eyes along with the wind that brushed against her cheeks. She approached close and dipper her hand into the water and press it on her lips.

She drank some of the water when her throat has gone cold from thirst.

And now it was Ryan she's gonna look for… again.

"Ryan!" she called out, walking past the small creek and bushes. "Hey, Ryan, _where the heck are you?_ " she demanded. She sighed in exasperation. "Great, now where'd he run off to?"

She turned to her right and spotted a plant that bore different berries than the last ones. She plucked a berry off the plant and examined the fruit. The berry had a scarlet skin and it somehow looked fresh and ripe. She split the berry into two to find juicy orange pulps inside. She sniffed the berry and shrugged, popped it in her mouth and chewed.

It tasted good. She smiled and plucked more berries from the plant and ate them with pleasure. She walked along while eating some of the berries when a loud groan broke the silence. She looked down and finds a wolf with orange fur and some kind of wrist bands on its paws. The look from its green eyes made it obvious who it was.

"Ryan!" the archer shrieked, dropping some of the berries she's eating. "What are you doing on there?"

"What does it look like?" Ryan's voice sounded deeper than his teenage elf accent when he's in his wolf form. The archer placed her hands on her lips, knowing that he's having his midday doggy nap. Ryan lay his stomach on the ground with his paws outstretched like a puppy. He seems to be enjoying the fresh air after he drank some of the water from the creek.

"Hey, I got some berries," Lire showed him the ripe berries she found. The wolf just yawned, opening his jaws wide open. He glanced towards her with her hands full of yummy berries. The archer saw tiny strings of saliva spewing on his mouth, which confirmed her he wanted some.

"Alright," she smiled. " _Open wide~_ " she cooed.

The wolf fumed and opened his jaws for her. Lire tossed two berries in his mouth as he began to chew. He again opened his jaws to ask for more. The archer tossed more into his mouth when she paused to eat some. She kept on tossing each berry in his mouth when there are few of them left. She tossed them in a small arc towards Ryan, who quite seemed to be enjoying her _spoon-feeding_ him. Lire plucked more berries from the same plants when she and the lazy-looking wolf shared them.

Thinking the wolf might whine like a spoiled puppy, Lire tossed more berries into his mouth and popped some into hers. She took one good look at the… _elf_ lying on his back, causing her to twitch from shock. Ryan had his arms placed under his head and chewing on the berries she tossed towards him. Bet he really liked being spoon-fed by this girl after all.

"First, you're a mutt sprawled on the ground like a puppy. Second, you morphed back into an elf while _all this time_ being spoon-fed by a weird-looking elf," the archer commented and childishly popped berries in her mouth. Ryan turned his head slightly toward her with a small playful smirk. He watched the female elf chew noisily with the berries when she caught him staring directly at her eyes, as if expecting something from her in _return_.

Lire positioned herself on a fine sitting position and held her knees close together. She gave him a good smile just as when the druid's about to say something when he did.

"Where'd you find those berries?"

"Over there," the archer pointed two feet away from where they are, locating the almost fruitless plants. "They really taste good unlike the ones we found earlier. The… poisonous ones,"

"Berries in this forest can either be eaten or not," Ryan told her. "Good thing you picked the ones commonly used for source of food,"

"Gee, you sure know a lot about forests," she says. "I rarely go outdoors. Well, because the maidens don't wanna let me."

" **You're not the only one** ," the druid told her. "They are concerned for our safety unless you really wanted to die,"

The two remained silent for a couple of minutes before Ryan stood up, walking past the female elf without any word. Lire watched his back as he walked out.

 _Now where's he going?_ The female elf thought.

"Uhmm… Ryan?"

The druid paused on his tracks and looked behind his shoulder. Lire flashed him a quite weak smile. "T-thanks for saving me back there," she said gratefully. She slowly stood up and decided to follow him behind.

"Don't mention it," the druid said in reply. "Protecting and saving the _weak_ is part of our job as nature protectors,"

_Weak, is he calling me weak…?_

"That doesn't mean you're a weakling intentionally," the druid continued.

They went back to the cavern to arrange some things before they rest. Lire found large tree leaves enough for them to use as bed covers. She found a good spot behind a couple of boulders and hung an old unused fabric like a curtain. Ryan went out in the woods to train, bringing his battle axe along.

Feeling a little droopy and woozy, Lire lays down on the bed of leaf covers and tucked herself for a nap. She wanted to forget about Ryan for few minutes before passing out.

* * *

_Deep down the abyss of shadows, Lire floats in the illusions of the darkness where she finds herself into nothingness. She doesn't have her bow and arrows with her in case an enemy passes by and attacks. But no, it was real and dim darkness where she is. Her blonde hair flew softly as faint whispers broke the eerie silence._

" _Hello?" her voice echoed but no response._

 _Her eyes searched for something to do. Those faint voices… they seem like crying for help with traces of pain, slaughter and bloodcurdling wails. Lire's veins froze. They were… her mother's. She heard another ear-splitting wail, but this time it was_ her _voice. Her younger voice back when she was a child._

" _M-Mommy?" she stammered, following the voices. The screams grew louder, making her ears hurt. She cupper her ears with her hands and the screams grew even louder. She clutched her own head like attempting to crush her own skull._

" _STOP! Please, don't…"_

_Lire's lips quivered her hands still cupping her ears._

" _Save those last words, little darling. You deserve an afterlife while I deserve tiny drops of victory and domination," Kaze'aze's cold and metallic voice echoed._

" _Kill me instead… I'll do anything!" the woman's voice echoed like banshee. Kaze'aze smirked and pressed her hands charged with dark and deadly aura on the woman's neck, choking and strangling her to death._

" _As you wish," she replied coldly as she watched the woman die. The Queen then broke into a sinister laugh._

" _You're next, little girl… you deserve a nice afterlife like you mother here, darling…"_

" _N-no!" Lire shook her head rapidly. "Please stop!" she pleaded when the voices faded. She was transported into a new scenario where she finds a boy with orange hair panting. He held a set of unique weapons that she'd never seen before. Kaze'aze morphed into her monstrous form as her claws charged themselves with dark aura. Her yellow-green eyes and black pupils stared at the boy with an evil grin._

" _Ryan!" Lire shrieked, reaching out for him. But Ryan doesn't seem to see or hear her. The druid wielding the unique weapons stood before the Queen._

" _Ah look who it is," the queen said in a sing-song tone. "It's the brave and bold nature protector," she laughed merrily. "You're here to save your_ precious _girlfriend,"_

_Ryan did nothing but to stare daggers. His green eyes are filled with rage._

_The next thing Lire knew is the druid charging towards the Queen, stabbing the sharp point of the blade on her back as he pressed harder. The Queen growled in pain and tried to shake him off her back. Lire couldn't bear to watch. She didn't_ want _this. She saw the druid standing on his ground once again but this time there are droplets of blood spewing on his lips and all over his body. The archer placed her hands on her lips, not wanting to see what's going to happen next._

_The next thing she saw was the scene fading before her eyes before the Queen could give Ryan a sharp blow to knock him dead._

_But then another scene went through her. She was alone in a chamber, feeling the extreme heat of the room making her sweat and absorb the life out of her. She sat upright on the floor with her knees leaning on it. She later realized she can't move. What she saw made her body numb._

_A dark figure stood before her and its footsteps approached. Lire's heart pounded wildly at the sight of the figure. She felt its hands crawl on her shoulders and kneel before her. She couldn't see its eyes from the extreme darkness when her own hands suddenly rested on its broad shoulders._

_Before she could react, a pair of strong hands pinned her on the ground. A tiny seductive glow of a knife's blade sparkled. Lire's yellowish-green eyes stared at it with fear and shock. A hand curled its fingers around her neck while the other anticipating to press the blade. She looked back and saw the clear color of the eyes._

_Unmistakenly_ _**emerald-green** _ _. Strong green ones._

" _R-Ryan..?"_

_Before she could scream for help, the blade was pressed directly onto her chest. The figure's green eyes gave her a sadistic stare as her vision lost focus –_

* * *

Lire jolted awake and rapidly opened her eyes, only to find a pair of emerald-green eyes staring down at her. The archer gasped for air and felt sweat cascading down her skin. Ryan had his hands at the sides of the covers, positioning himself like a shield.

"Ryan!" she cried out, staggering backwards while panting for breath. The orange-haired druid leaned a little closer.

"You had a nightmare?" he asked in his blank and half skeptic expression.

"Y-yeah," the archer nodded, her body trembling from her semi-realistic nightmare.

"I've been watching you wailing in your sleep when you started calling out my name like you're asking for my help." Ryan said. "Whatever your nightmare is, you almost cried,"

"I-I did?"

"Well yeah..?"

Knowing she couldn't hold back her tears any longer, she cried. Tears leaked down her eyes as she cried right in front of the druid's eyes.

"Oh Ryan…" she said between sobs. "It – seemed – so real!" she shrieked when Ryan's cheeks started to turn red. For an instance, he gave in and pulled the female elf on his chest, her head landing on it and causing her to blush as well. Lire gasped and formed hiccupping sobs. Ryan felt her heart pounding wildly. He knew this is the only way to stop her crying and how he didn't want to see her in so much pain. To his relief, Lire had finally stopped, her hands rested on his chest to feel his warmth.

"Thanks again…" she whispered.

"Hey, aren't those Ryan and Lire over there?" said a tough female voice not too far away from the bed they made. The two elves gasped in surprise. A girl with red hair tied into a braided ponytail with a guy with indigo hair tied into a ponytail stood three feet away from them. Ronan and Elesis appeared in the cave when the two knights spotted those two sharing some kind of a love scene that will make Elesis barf in a second.

"Whoa, sorry if we scared you," the spell knight smiled nervously. "We were stranded on this forest when we ended up finding this cave. Hey, maybe we can find some food and water in here,"

"Just go outside and you'll find a creek," Ryan told him, his arm still slung around the flushed Lire.

"Oh great!" Elesis ran past Ronan as the two raced each other to the other side of the cave.

Lire gulped and met Ryan's gaze. "So uhmm… I-I wanna go for a little walk if you don't mind,"

"Not without me," the druid replied, walking ahead of her towards the exit of the cave and leaving their leaf bed behind.


	10. Chapter 9: Rain Survival

"B-but," Lire stammered, turning behind her to see Ryan standing behind her with the same skeptic look that never faded from his face. He looked back to see Ronan and Elesis drinking the water from the creek when the two knights went out to pick out some berries.

"A-are you…worried about me?" the female elf asked. The druid left no other choice but to reply with a simple nod.

"Well, I-I guess we should get going then," Lire formed a weak smile and began to walk. Ryan's footsteps approached behind her. The two elves stepped out of the cavern. Elesis stayed for a lookout with Ronan while they search for food and something certain to help them find clues.

"There must be a path leading us to the direction on our way to Xenia," Lire broke the eerie silence when they reached a tree-crowded area. Hands in front of her face, she pried and moved the bushes aside. A vine caught he leg that almost got he stumbled. Lire winced and used the sharp edge of her arrow to cut herself free.

"Uhmm Ryan, do you know any path – "she paused when the druid is nowhere in sight. "Ryan..?" She sighed and looked around. "Now where'd he go?"

The archer pried through the bushes free when she found her way out. Her clothes covered in thorns and dead leaves as she frantically brushed them off. She pulled out her quiver stuck from the bushes when she succeeds.

"RYAN!" she called out at the distance. Her voice echoed, but unfortunately, no response came. Lire pouted and walked away while pondering.

* * *

Ryan did the same of pondering while walking on the forest grounds after he got himself separated from Lire before she turned her back. He had no choice but to do so. The axe he carried over his shoulder went filthy at the sight of the blade. His pet raccoon seemed to have wandered around the forests snatching stinky socks from poachers.

That's not what he's gonna worry about.

As he walked, he stared at the ripe berries – beneficial and harmful – some have sprouts, some have their fruits plucked by the goblins and orcs. The druid walked past them, the leaves of the trees providing shades and the harpies flooding the skies, searching for their live prey.

 _What am I supposed to do with_ her _?_

His eyes squeezed shut as he reopened them.

_I mean… did she really mean it? That I…_

He lifted his head up to see his path empty as he kept on walking, lost in his thoughts.

_I don't know how to do this with her, I just have to try not to sulk myself like an idiot._

The druid went into his solitude walking on the forest grounds and searching for a path leading to the borders of Xenia. But it will take him a long time to get in there and seek for Gaia.

He sighed and muttered the archer's name. _I can't leave her alone. She's…_

His pointed ears caused him to twitch and sense something coming nearby. His gaze turned sideways when the bushes rustled. Standing on his place is a wolf with orange fur. He found a hiding place behind a boulder as his head peeked at the front. A harpy appeared with a raccoon squirming. Ryan's gaze turned grim, knowing that the harpies killed almost every living creature in the forests. The harpy used its talons to pin the raccoon on the ground and lean to start its grazing.

Ryan grumbled and turned to pounce on the beast before it could tear on the raccoon's flesh. The raccoon squeaked and scampered away.

The wolf pounded his paws on the feathered creature. Its jaws clenched when he gnawed on the harpy's wing like what he did in the Gorge of Oath earlier. The harpy screeched and cawed like a strangled raven, struggling from the druid's jaws gnawing on its wing. Ryan clenched on his paws and bit the harpy on the neck, allowing blood to squirt. The beast screeched when it died. Ryan spit out the monster blood, disgusted.

He stepped off the harpy's corpse and walked out with his paws.

"RYAN!"

He almost jumped when he heard a female voice calling his name. He heard footsteps approaching when he morphed back into his elf form. A glimpse of blonde caught his vision when it confirmed him it was Lire approaching. The female elf caught up with him and panted.

"Ryan…" Lire panted in exhaustion. "Please don't bail on me like that,"

The druid responded by looking behind his shoulder. "C'mon," he simply said a started walking. "Better not let yourself get ambushed,"

Lire simply rolled her eyes and followed behind.

"Do you think Ronan and Elesis can take care of themselves in the cave?" she asked.

"Ronan told me he can," the druid replied. "What matters is that he can cope with the red-headed weenie with him,"

The two stayed silent for a couple of seconds. Lire's gaze went towards the druid, his back turned on her. They stayed silent while walking when the sky turned grey. Tiny droplets of rain touched their skins before the rain poured. They heard heavy footsteps behind; confirming them another monster is following them to attack.

Ryan grabbed Lire's wrist and dragged her along. The archer winced when she gave in. The monster following them turned out to be an enormous gorilla somewhere located from Primal Island where a giant flower-like monster inhabited the area.

"What is that _thing_?" Lire gasped.

Ryan didn't say anything but to drag her along with him hurriedly towards the trees. The rain grew stronger, creating tiny holes on the grounds. The gorilla monster pounded his giant fists on its chest and growled, sending out green toxic gas. The two elves covered their noses with their hands to prevent from inhaling.

Lire almost stumbled when Ryan's grip loosened, causing him to let go and get separated again. The gorilla monster chased after them, spreading out toxic gas. Lire placed both hands on her nose and ran.

"R-Ryan…" she stammered. "Ryan..!"

The gorilla monster growled, and it sounded close.

Lire fell on her stomach, groping on the ground. She heard the gorilla's heavy footsteps beside her and searching for two of them. The archer crouched like a defeated person to cover herself. Only a huge leaf shielded her from the toxic gas when the gorilla's yellow menacing eyes looked toward her. Lire's heart pounded wildly. The gorilla reached for the leaf that covered her. She hesitated not to make any sudden moves.

_Ryan, help…_

A tiny sound of a stone cracking broke the silence. The gorilla monster froze and looked behind. Lire shivered, the heavy droplets of rain making her clothes wet and her lips trembling. The gorilla grunted and turned away, its heavy footsteps walking away and leaving its footprints like handprints behind. Lire peeked behind the leaf, watching it go until it was out of sight.

She sighed in relief when the air is safe to breathe again.

She slowly put the leaf down, careful not to attract attention.

"Ryan..?" she called out softly. "Where are you?"

She snatched her bow and her sheath of arrows. Another harpy made its flight towards her and extending its sharp talons to get her, Lire prepared an arrow as she placed it on her bow. Her fingers pulled the quiver with the arrow's rear. She aimed for her shot when she let the arrow fly, stabbing the harpy's wing.

The harpy winced and took flight towards her. Lire aimed another arrow when it hit directly on the chest. The harpy screeched and fell on the ground with a loud thud. The rain poured stronger when a flock of harpies flooded the grey stormy sky.

"Oh no…" she staggered backwards and stumbled backwards inside the bushes. Three harpies landed on the ground following the direction where she fell. Their wings pried onto the bushes, some caught live prey from the bushes and ate them with gusto. Lire braced herself when one of her arrows fell. She gulped and slowly groped on the ground to retrieve it.

Just then, her bow fell, causing the harpies to turn. Lire gulped again and braced. One harpy pried on the bush where she is when a sharp wood stabbed its head like a shuriken. Blood dripped from tis head as it let out a death caw. The harpy collapsed on the ground, leaving a trail of its blood with foul smell.

Lire knew this is her chance to flee. She grabbed her bow and arrows and ran to the other bush a few distances from the harpies. She looked up from the sky to see the rest of the harpies flooding the skies.

_Where could he be?_

More harpies had their landing and their wings pried on the bushes. Lire crawled on the bushes in search for Ryan. A seed shot through the air and hit the ground, growing a beautiful plant. When a harpy landed on it, it experienced short paralysis that it wobbled like dizzy. Lire wondered where it came from.

_Run, find a place to hide!_

Lire hesitated while pondering when she felt a strong hand grab her wrist and give her a strong and abrupt pull. She winced from its pull when she fell on her back, mud covering her clothes and skin. She spitted out the mud from her lips when she felt hands pinning her on the ground to keep quiet.

"L-let g – "

She was interrupted when a hand cupped her lips to shut up.

"It's me,"

Ryan pinned her on the ground, clothes wet and covered in mud. His wet orange hair slicked down as Lire calmed down a little bit.

"Where have you been?" she whispered.

The druid's green eyes glared at her to shut up. "They'll see us," he hissed.

"W-why are you – "

He abruptly cupped her mouth with his hand. Lire felt his warm body almost pressed on hers when the harpies approached. Caws and screeches broke the silence as they searched for prey. The gorilla monster's heavy footsteps returned. A foul smell filled the air along with the toxic gas. Both elves grimaced as the poisonous gas started to spread.

Ryan heard the female elf whimpering and his hands feeling her cold body shivering. "R-Ryan, w – "

The druid pulled himself together until-

"Mmph!"

He grabbed her by the back of her neck and… kissed her. The female archer gasped in surprise, her cheeks turning red and her heart spinning. She felt his arm grasp her back and pull her against him to share his warmth.

Ryan knew what he did was _wrong_ , but he had to. Seeing this female elf shivering in front of him made him experience her pain, he knew he _had_ to do this. It's not because for his _and_ her satisfaction but to prove to her that he…

But now, he really did it. He stole her first kiss. Her _very_ **first** kiss. Lire's fingers grasped on his shirt when her hands suddenly rested on his shoulders then under his arms, they gripped his shoulders from behind.

Both departed for air. Lire stuttered, not from the cold air, but shaking when the druid's lips pressed on hers, her cheeks grew hot as she looked right into his eyes. They were filled with –

"Ryan…"

The druid sighed. "You alright now..?"

She nodded reluctantly as she flashed him a weak smile. "Ryan you – "

Ryan interrupted her by pulling her into his arms. He covered them with the giant leaves before the gorilla monster and the harpies could see them. Lire rested her head on his chest, hearing his slow and steady heartbeat that almost made her fall into a trance.

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds. The gorilla monster and the harpies ate some of the prey they found. Sounds of munching and fluid dripping out filled the air. Lire hid her face on his shoulder, careful not to see the scene of the dead animals devoured by their predators. The two elves stayed on their place before the beasts gave up searching for more prey.

When Ryan's gaze went directly into Lire's eyes, the female archer blushed. She bowed her head from embarrassment and avoided his gaze.

"Uhh let's just go back to the cave," the druid pulled himself together yet with the heavy flushed face. Lire's shivers returned from the cold rain as she nodded. "S-Sure…" Then he hoisted her up into his arms, making the female elf blush even more.

"N-no, i-it's okay," she hesitated. "Y-you can transform into a wolf, w-we can get in there faster,"

"I'll carry you," Ryan said directly. "Suppose this might make you understand what I did,"

"Ryan…"

The druid's sudden expressionless face made her look worried.

_He stole my first k –_

"D-do you l – " Lire cut off her words, afraid she might _piss_ him off. But then the druid responded when his green eyes looked over her filled with _something_. The archer sighed. "Never mind…"

They went silent for a couple of seconds when Ryan whispered. "I **do** ," before he ran carrying the female elf in his arms back to the cave. Lire went dizzy when she suddenly fell asleep.

* * *

"There he is!" Elesis pointed her finger towards Ryan running towards the cave, carrying Lire in his arms, which surprised her all of a sudden. "Whoa…"

Ryan, soaked wet and filthy, caught up and entered inside the cave. The rain fell a little stronger than earlier. Ronan swooped in when he saw the druid carrying Lire in his arms. "What happened?"

The druid gasped and panted. He sat down with unconscious Lire on his chest. "She passed out," he told them. "Ambush,"

Elesis placed her hands on her hips. "Now that you're here again, you two have to get yourselves dried up before you catch a cold," This surprised Ronan because he never knew this red-haired knight can be caring and sensitive. But instead, a smile spread across his face.

"Mmhh…" Lire twitched and shivered. She sniffed and let out a sneeze. Elesis sighed.

"Now she's got one,"

Ryan rested his back on the cavern wall and released Lire from his hold. The archer woke up, soaking wet like him. Elesis helped her get up as she shivered from the cold.

"Where am I?"

"Cave," the knight replied. Her hands touched the wet locks of her hair. "Geez, you _really_ have to get dried up, Lire. Now you got yourself a cold,"

The female elf nodded and smiled. Both girls squeezed off the excess water from her hair while the two guys went over to the pond to wash. The trees covered them from the heavy rain when Ronan went to the other side of the cave to search for more berries. Elesis joined him after she made their beds. Lire stayed behind with a damp cloth around her hair.

Her wet clothes hang nearby as she covered herself with a blanket. She peeked towards the pond to see Ryan only wearing his shorts. The rest of his armor and his axe placed aside and allowing them to dry. Then he is soaking himself on the pond, his hair slicked wet and his eyes calmly closed.

The female elf blushed at the sight of him, she could see his bare upper limbs even if his back is on turned on her. She looked away when her fingers touched her lips, suddenly remembering the spot he kissed her.

"H-he stole my first kiss…" she muttered under her breath. "What does he mean when he said…"

" _I_ _ **do**_ _,"_

Lire secured the blanket around her and sighed. Her cheeks turned red and her yellowish-green eyes trembling, preventing not to leak tears.

* * *

The orange-haired druid dipped himself on the pond. The water felt warm. His strong green eyes looked up in the grey stormy sky, watching the rain pour. He stared at his own reflection in the water.

_What did I just do?_

He kissed her. Really kissed her. He knew what he did.

_Seeing her like that also gives me pain. It's the only way to calm her down._

He stayed silent for a couple of seconds, still pondering. His head formed the certain question Lire tried to ask him earlier. _Yes, I_ _ **really**_ _do. It's not the right time yet._

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm touch of the water. He soaked himself in until his face is only seen. He sighed in his mind, still lost in his thoughts.

_I love you._

_I loved you for a very long time._


	11. Chapter 10: Another Night

The night came when they stayed in the cave for the rest of the night. They set up a campfire to get themselves dry up. Lire almost got the catchy cold while Ryan stayed in the garden behind the cave to rest and watch. Soon his only companions were the plants, the moon, stars and himself.

Lire wrapped herself with the towel, her damp hair touch her skin and her yellowish-green eyes staring at the flames. Ronan is cleaning and wiping his spell sword while Elesis prepared the berries for their grazing.

"I wonder what's Ryan doing out there all by himself," the knight said, staring outside to see the shadowy figure of the druid from the distance. "He must have got tired from all that running and carrying you all the way here,"

"I… I told him to morph into a wolf but…" Lire paused for a while then halted by Elesis.

"Stick to the bright side, he's doing his best to protect you. He doesn't always think of himself in need,"

The archer stayed silent for a couple of seconds before she stared at her bandaged leg. There were fresh blood stains where the Carnivorous Plant shot her with a seed. She stared at her own palms. There were scrape marks and red.

"Huh, I would be expecting Lass to get wet in this storm," said a suddenly smirking Elesis. "Who knows he always got Miss Shorty with her to shield them both – if she can,"

"Pfft," Ronan snorted. "You should speak for that redhead and – that _so-called_ pumpkin-faced troll – Amy. They're the ones who **reeaaally** need protection,"

"Gah… Amy…" the knight hissed. "That girl's annoying me…"

"First of all, she thinks I became so _girrrly_ and _stylish_ all because of her? **GAH!** " Elesis placed her hands on her head as if attempting to crush her own skull.

"Every girl has a sense of fashion, you know," the spell knight told her. "Even guys do,"

"Oh ya think..?" Elesis muttered when she stood up. She clenched her fist with a semi-angry facial. "If that girl shows up and taunts me **every** single crack about me, I swear I'll –"

"Ow, watch it will you?"

Heads turned when a foot fall hanging from the roof of the cave followed by series of struggling. Two figures fell on the wet ground with a loud thud when the fire's light made it clear to figure them out.

Jin fell facedown with Amy sitting on his back. He muttered a curse when he whined Amy to get off.

"Ooh, so now the two _love birds_ are here," Elesis smirked and grumbled when she saw Amy.

Jin spitted out the dirt on his mouth and stood up, dusting himself off.

"You've been up there all night?" Lire asked.

"Not really," Jin replied. "Amy and I thought it would be good spot to rest for a while when it rained all of a sudden,"

"Then she mistook you guys as monsters taking over this cave… not when she heard _you_ –" his yellow eyes went directly at Elesis. "– _Bad-mouthing_ things about her and for her feedback –" he jabbed his thumb towards Amy. "–you were being a low-esteem… dunno, that's what she said!"

"No I'm not!" Elesis retorted, her cheeks somehow turning red.

Amy sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that _even_ tomboys like you have traces of sensitivity?"

"And **why** do you have to keep on telling me?"

"Girls…" Ronan rolled his eyes. "Too much issues,"

Lire simply leaned her head on her knees when Jin tapped her on the shoulder. She looked behind her to see the red-haired fighter standing behind her.

"Ryan wants you to come over there, right where he is," he pointed towards the direction. "I think he wants to settle things with you or something,"

"Sure…" she stood up and walked past him. "Thanks, anyway," she took a timid step away from them when she was finally safe to walk. Her feet stepped on the mud and kept walking. The moon seemed a little bright to illuminate her path. She strides a step to avoid stepping on a snoring orc. The orc grunted as Lire froze. The orc simply rolled on his sleep and revealed a string of saliva oozing from its mouth.

Lire sighed in relief and continued walking.

She spotted the druid sitting over a boulder and staring up at the sky. The archer took timid steps towards him when her foot stepped on a twig. The twig broke into half until a pair of emerald eyes stared towards her.

"Ryan," she hesitated, looking behind her if the orc suddenly woke up.

"He's asleep," he told her. "As long as you won't make any sudden moves,"

Lire timidly approached him when she found a spot next to him. She wrapped the towel around herself and shivered. "J-Jin told me you wanted to talk to me about –"

"Yeah, yeah," he cut her off. "About _that_ ,"

"B-but –"

"I know what I said," he cut her off again. "Suppose you've figured it out,"

"Ryan I…" Lire hesitated, trying to avoid his gaze. She let out a small sneeze when her nose is starting to swell up a bit.

"About that quest," she continued. "How are we gonna identify this forest and find out who's behind all this?"

"I'm not talking about that," Ryan said. "I want to talk about you,"

"H-huh –"

"Lire," his gaze went towards hers. "I don't know why are you spacing out and thinking about… your past. It's quite obvious I _am_ part of it," Lire bit her lip and hesitated.

"I…I don't know," she replied softly. She managed to pull herself together a _little bit_. "Besides, everything that happened all faded. Here in the real world, we can't change it…"

"We can't change it because..?"

"Uhmm… because it already happened!"

"It doesn't make any sense," the druid looked away. "We have our own pasts. I've told you earlier. We can get _over_ them and move on. _But_ since your past has something to do with Kaze'aze about to rise again, she's sending reinforcements to do all the work for her until they leave a little piece for her,"

"Y-yes," Lire replied with a stiff nod. "Exactly how far are _we_ gonna go before we reach Xenia?"

"It will take a lot of time," the druid replied. He turned his head to face her again. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Uhh y-yeah, sure,"

"What is the only thing that makes you _cry_?"

Lire kept her eyes on the ground and leaned her head on her knees gingerly. "Loss," she replied warily.

"Why do you think a dead rose reminds you something of yourself broken inside and out?"

"Uhmm… i-it makes me think about… the time when –" she let out a sneeze. "–you appeared in the flower beds all of a sudden and holding that dead rose," This caused Ryan to give her a half curious glance.

"I remember my mom used to tell me that a white flower symbolizes purity and solitude. Every time I see one, it makes me think of my mom. Now that my parents are gone, they somehow _inherited_ me the gift of solitude," she wiped a small tear from her eyes and sneezed again. She wiped her nose with the towel and sniffed. "Sorry…"

They went silent for a couple of minutes. The orc turned in his sleep and snored. His noisy snores broke the eerie silence when the chirps of the crickets interfered. Lire cupped her nose with the towel she's holding to prevent another sneeze.

"I'm not done yet," the orange-haired boy broke in. "I know this doesn't sound like a question. Look, I _know_ what I did earlier." He left out how it was _wrong_. His eyes looked up in the crescent moon. "I only wanted to protect you and keep you alive."

"M-me, but…"

His sharp gaze turned directly at her. "I didn't _want_ to see you in such…pain!" he admitted. He always knew the look from her eyes–even when they were young and distant from each other back then–are almost _always_ filled with sadness and fear. Then his strong green eyes looked intensely into her eyes. Lire looked down and saw that his fingers tightened around her hand, giving it a light squeeze.

The girl twitched slightly when he mouthed out his final question.

"Lire," he cleared his throat for a few moments.

"Do you… **love** me?"

The archer twitched and skipped a beat. It… it was happening so _fast_. But how could he…

_Why… h-how could it be..?_

_It's a_ _**simple** _ _question, Lire. Give him a_ _**truthful** _ _answer or else–_

"Y-yes, I…do," she snapped out of it and bowed her head timidly, half of her face covered with the towel to hide her red cheeks.

She told him the truth. The long lost feelings towards him suddenly came back and… she somehow managed to express them to him. But it all happened so fast… they–

_I've told you before; you were friends since childhood…_

She stared at their fingers now twined together. A small smile spread across her face when the druid looked away from her and confessed.

"I love you,"

"Ryan…" the archer couldn't help but _smile_. The blush on her cheeks grew deeper. She sneezed once more, causing the druid to look back at her and pull her into his arms to give her some of his warmth. The girl rested her head on his chest and got herself cradled.

"I guess you need to stay in the cave," he said. "I got word from Elesis you got yourself a cold,"

Lire nodded sheepishly and wiped her nearly swelling nose. Just then, they felt sudden drops of rain descending from the sky as both elves swooped in and headed back to the cave. Lire sat on the leaf bed they made while Ryan rested his back on the wall. Jin stood in front of them while collecting some wood for the campfire.

"Good thing you catch up," he said.

The archer let out another sneeze. Elesis sighed and handed her a warm cloth to wipe it on her face.

"Oh good, I thought I was the only one," Amy chimed, her nose swelling from the cold, too. She sniffed and wiped her nose. "I wonder where Lass and Arme went off to, they might suffer this darn cold like what we have,"

"Lass told me earlier they went to explore the Partusay Sea," Ronan said, still brandishing his spell sword. "Knight Master sent them to retrieve a Ruby and statue fragments,"

"How come they're sent on an underwater mission?" the dancer complained, crossing her arms and pouting. "While we're just sitting here and freeze ourselves into frozen statues,"

"Well, at least it's not **snowing** ," Elesis retorted.

"By the way," Jin turned to face the two elves. "How did you guys get in here before we did?"

"Uhmm I…" Lire stammered but the druid answered.

"We got ourselves into ambush," he said. "Moss Monster-harpies-Black Wendy-and-Plant attack," he said in his half exaggerated tone. Everyone else turned to look at them in surprise.

"Black Wendy?" Ronan repeated. "That monstrous gorilla from Primeval (Primal) Island..?"

"But how did she get in here?" Elesis asked.

"Silver Land is quite close to Bermesiah," Jin told them. "It could be that some monsters from Silver Land found temporary habitats in this area,"

"Ah, I remember," Amy snapped her fingers. "We had an encounter with Blood Locusts a while ago."

Ryan took out the mission scroll. "Knight Master sent us with this." Jin took the piece of parchment and unrolled the scroll, scanning everything written and signed by the female warrior. His eyes widened in surprise.

"An unnamed forest?" he asked. The druid replied with a silent nod.

"Rumour has it that **this** forest has _no name_. The ancestors claimed this as a lost island inhabited by monsters from various places." The druid narrated. "The Knight Master sent us to identify this forest and save it from the clutches of a villain,"

Suspense filled the air as Jin scanned the scroll. He noticed there are torn portions of the parchment. "It may be possible Kaze'aze is responsible for all this,"

"Kaze'aze has reinforcements," Ronan said. "She sent different villains and enemies to do all the work for her,"

"One of them is Lich," the druid added, making everyone stare at him again. "Our forest landlord announced Lich has resurrected – obviously by Kaze'aze – and used the dead bodies of the fallen warriors as his minions."

"It's like corrupting their souls resting in peace," the spell knight said.

"It would be worse if Kaze'aze forces two worlds together, the human world will be in mortal danger. She'll give each minion the ability to change appearances as ordinary humans," Jin told the crew. "She'll open up portals and trap the monsters to the human world,"

Ronan placed his hand on his chin. "I've heard about a _god_ causing some kind of malevolence to the other gods. According to the Kanavan studies from our elders, Xenia is known to be the **land of the gods**."

The shisa nodded. "It is known to be located _almost_ in the heavens and covered in clouds from mortals,"

Elesis abruptly turned to the pink-haired dancer. "Hey, Amy, you're from Xenia, right? Can you tell us a bit of info about it?"

Amy sneezed and covered half of her face with her fabric cloth. She sniffed and wiped her nose. "Back then, I always stayed with the deities. Xenia is indeed the land of the gods. Before meeting with the gods, you'll have to encounter two guardians from the Border."

"Guardians..?" everyone repeated, exchanging confused glances at each other.

"Lenaisen and Octus," the dancer continued. "The guardian of the wind and the guardian of the forest…"

"They are gatekeepers from the Border. They have two different worlds – one for each guardian – and they guard the gates from trespassers," Amy let out another sneeze and sniffed. "Back when I was taking a tour to the Border itself, I managed to run past the gatekeepers from catching me. I encountered a lot of strange and _scary_ creatures like… that skeleton dinosaur monster!"

"Mutated Naga-like Skeleton?" Jin narrowed his eyebrow.

"Speaking of Xenia," Ryan broke in. "If there's enough opportunity, I'm taking steps to the Forest of Life and seek Gaia,"

" **All by yourself?** "

The druid went silent when his gaze went towards Lire, who stared back at him in surprise.

"M-me..?"

"Ooh…" Elesis smirked. "Looks like the tree-hugger wants her for company,"

Jin went back to their topic, holding the scroll on his hand. "Ryan, about your mission with Lire, why would Knight Master send you to do this?"

"Funny, we always wondered why," the druid snorted. The female elf next to her sneezed, her nose starting to get swollen.

"Alright then, we hope the forest will get a very interesting name,"

The druid took the piece of parchment back and re-sealed it.

Later, the crew had their grazing, eating berries and drinking the water from the fresh creek. Lire only ate a few berries due to her cold. Ryan remained next to her with his arm slung around her waist. She shivered from the extremely cold weather while the others gathered around the campfire for warmth.

As the night grew old, the sliver glow of the crescent moon shone bright in the night sky when the chirps of the crickets filled the air. Everyone is curled on their random places with leaf beds prepared. Lire stayed curled like a ball and her head resting on her knees. Ryan reached out and threw off the fabric that kept her quite warm.

"H-hey –"

"It's wet," he cut her off. "You'll chill,"

"A-are there any b-blankets in here?" she hesitated, her teeth clattering. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Ryan pulled out a dry sheet and prepared the cloth to their leaf bed. He turned his back on her and took off his shirt, making the archer blush even when she's only wearing one of her chemise as her sleeping attire. Her clothes are folded on the side of the leaf bed.

Ryan sat upright on the bed and stared towards Lire. She trembled from the cold. The sheet doesn't seem too warm for them.

"C'mere," he whispered.

"H-huh..?" the female elf blinked in surprise. The boy sighed and repeated what he said.

"Umm… okay," she crawled towards him and his arms encircled around her. Lire blushed and then felt his warmth. He tucked her on the bed, curled next to her. He shifted on the bed positioned himself on top of her.

"R-Ryan..?"

His lips nuzzled on her forehead as he planted a kiss. The archer's heart spun in her chest and found herself blushing. His strong green eyes looked into her yellowish-green ones and his fingers wounded on her hair.

"Are you really taking me to Xenia… with you?" she asked. The druid replied with a simple nod.

"I guess I couldn't hold my feelings anymore," he said. "The truth is, you always mean to me,"

She couldn't help but smile. "Really..?" He nodded again.

She yawned and rested her head on his bare chest, feeling his warmth and hearing his slow and steady heartbeat. His arms grasped her back and pulling her close to him. He watched her drift off to sleep and the atmosphere had gone silent.

* * *

" _A white flower symbolizes purity and solitude, Lire. It makes you feel cleansed and purified."_

" _Pretty~"_

_The woman knelt down in front of her daughter and touched her face with her hand. "You'll always be my daughter, Lire. Even when I'm gone, I'll always be here for you,"_

_The little girl controlled herself from crying. "P-please don't leave me, Mommy. I don't want to be alone,"_

" _Of course you won't be alone," the woman smiled._ " _As long as we're together, I wanted to see you happy," she wiped off the tears leaking her daughter's eyes and kissed her on the forehead. She pulled her daughter in her arms and leaned her lips onto her ear._

" _I understand you don't have any friends but yourself. You have us to support you, especially –"_

_Lire's eyes widened when her mother said the druid's name. She gave her a smile._

" _He's always lonely… like you," she said. "His parents are always separated from him and he's left in his room all by himself. I'm always inviting him here to stay and play with you,"_

" _Ryan…"_

" _I always wanted to see you two_ _ **together**_ _,"_

* * *

" _N-no, come back with my pendant!"_

_Lire ran after a magpie that just snatched the pendant her mother gave her. It has been her treasure since then. She went to the flower beds chasing after the bird holding the pendant with its beak. The young female elf ran when the magpie is several distances away._

" _NO, STOP!"_

_She continued running after the bird when a rock hit the magpie, causing it to flinch and fall on the ground helplessly. Feathers flew in the air and Lire managed to catch up._

_An orange-haired boy holding a wooden Y-shaped stick with a small rope tied around the ends arrived and knelt towards the unconscious magpie. His sling shot was a direct hit. On its beak was a shining pendant when he pulled it out, staring at it curiously._

_He heard footsteps approaching when he finds a little girl with same pair of pointy ears like his. She panted in exhaustion and tripped._

_He stared at the pendant then to her. The little elf girl lied on her stomach and struggled to get up. He knew she's injured when the scrape on her knee proved it._

_Lire began to cry and stare at her scraped knee. The spot began to swell and tiny droplets of scarlet started to drip._

" _Blood!" she cried between her tears._

_Ryan, the orange-haired boy, got alarmed when he carried Lire on his back. She placed her arms around his neck from behind as he grabbed hold of her legs, careful not to touch the scrape on her knee. She seemed a bit light when he carried her when they stopped on a nearby forest._

_He put her down and let her sit beside a young oak tree. Lire winced as her wound swollen. The boy plucked leave s off the plants and grinded them hard with his hands. He helped clean her wound, despite her wincing from the pain when it faded. He covered the wound with a cloth and tied it securely._

" _Thanks," Lire sniffed. The boy stared towards the pendant he's been holding as he held it out towards her._

" _This must be yours,"_

_Lire blinked in surprise and smiled. "Y-yes, thanks again… Ryan,"_

_The boy stretched out his hand. She let him hold it as he helped her get up. Lire winced a little._

" _Can you walk?" Ryan asked._

" _Umm y-yeah, I'm fine,"_


	12. Chapter 11: Before Dawn Breaks

The druid opened his eyes. The night grew older, the sliver moon glowing brighter than the last time. The crickets chirping in the silence while the rest of the gang already asleep on their leaf beds.

He found himself sleeping beside a blonde-haired elf like him. A thin sheet covering them both and his arms encircled around the girl's body. The female elf curled beside him in a deep sleep. Her head rested on his bare chest when she moved, turning her head slightly for another position.

The male elf observed the girl curled beside him, giving her his warmth. Her delicate face rested on his skin. He looked behind to see the moon's glow. The rest of his comrades were in a deep sleep. But when he heard footsteps, he knew he can sense company.

"Woo, shelter at last!"

"Great, now I'm soaking wet… only if you haven't pushed me into that lake!"

"Jeez, I said I was sorry. Besides, we were both dirty back then so it would be a good way to clean you up,"

He heard the familiar masculine voice. The girl behind him, soaking wet, was a girl with lilac hair and eyes. The guy had the unmistakable silvery-white hair and blue eyes. He had the same blue scarf encircled around his neck. The mage, who had just got off his back after a piggy-back ride all the way to the cave, squeezed off the excess water from her hair.

"Whoa, didn't expect everyone to be here," Arme suddenly smiled when she saw the rest of the gang asleep. Lass sat on a corner and leaned his back on the coarse wall, wiping his head with his scarf.

"Good thing we catch up," he said. "We almost got stranded from that sudden flood!" His eyes averted at Ryan after realizing he was awake. "Oh, Ryan, you're still awake,"

The druid stared back unwarily. "About time, you came,"

"Sorry we took so long," the thief rubbed his head sheepishly. "It took us a long time to sail from the Partusay Sea to here. We managed to track you guys with Arme's magic,"

"Well, duh, because you told me to," the mage retorted, her purple hair damp and frizzy. "Wow, good thing everybody is here,"

"Except Sieghart and Mari," Lass told the mage. "That guy with the lazy butt didn't tell us where he and Mari are going."

Arme put a finger on her chin. "Hmm I remember Mari telling me – softly – that it was only Sieghart to do that mission. He invited her along for "some" reasons," She encircled her arms around herself and shivered. "I'm feeling c-cold…" she stammered. Lass sighed and handed her his scarf, despite his topless body already sacrificing the cold.

"Here, take it," he said as the mage stared at him in surprise. "You said you're feeling cold,"

"B-but Lass you're – "

"Don't worry about me, Arme, I'll be fine," he said with a crooked smile. Arme gave in and took the scarf. She found a space next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Lass turned his glance at the still awakened druid.

"So, how did you guys find this cave, anyway?"

Ryan told him the entire story of their mission and the unknown forest, including the arrival of Ronan and Elesis then the late arrival of Jin and Amy. He left out the part of him taking Lire with him to Xenia.

"Whoa, a forest that has no name?" the thief blinked. "Weird,"

"That's what the Knight Master said when she gave me the scroll," the druid shrugged. He stared at the female elf curled next to him and felt her shivering.

"Don't you feel cold, Ryan?" Lass asked. The druid shook his head.

"Her cold will only become worse," he says. "We got completely soaked from the heavy rain a while ago while running all the way here carrying her."

"You should have morphed into a wolf,"

"Nah, don't need to. I wanted to sacrifice a little,"

"Alright, carry on then,"

The atmosphere has gone quiet again. This time, the druid is the only one awake. Lass and Arme probably fell asleep from their long journey. Now it was just him holding the female elf in his arms. Lire suddenly twitched as her eyes snapped open. The girl sees his forest green eyes staring directly at her yellowish-green ones.

"R-Ryan...!" She placed her arms under his arms until she touched his shoulders from behind, burying her face on his chest once more. The boy gently pushed her back. The female laid on her back with heavy pants.

"Now what?"

"I-I thought you were – "

Ryan shook his head and calmed her down. But then since he was leaning close to her, she had no choice but to give in. She reluctantly closes her eyes and feels his face inching towards hers.

Unfortunately, their kiss stopped. His lips were just an inch close when he froze. Lire wanted to move but then his hands tightened their grips on her two wrists. His green eyes once again stared directly into hers.

Without hesitation, he finally did. He did the same deep and hard kiss like from the forest earlier. The hold grew tighter when later they loosened. When they pulled apart, Lire's cheeks have turned red. The druid simply blushed and shook it off. He sat up and leaned his back on the coarse wall.

"Aren't you tired?" the archer asked.

"I'm gonna do some training a little later," he replied, looking away from her and staring outside. The rain poured very light along with the cold gust of the breeze. Then his eyes averted at the other side of the cave. He put his shirt – now dry – back on and dashed towards the direction. Lire got alarmed, hopped out of bed, and stormed after him.

"RYAN!"

The female elf ran after the druid but then encountered a bright glow. Lire shielded her face with her hands. She can't see him from the extreme brightness. All she could see were streaks of aura. Then the streaks gathered altogether and formed a tall figure.

Lire's eyes glimmered at the sight of it. The figure soon started to reveal identity. It had the long hair with blonde curls. Beautiful, moss-green eyes caught her attention. The figure wore a very beautiful dress and her face formed a smile. Something hit Lire. She knew who this person was.

"G-Gaia…"

Gaia's beautiful form only lasted for a few moments before she vanished, much to Lire's dismay. The light streaks of aura vanished slowly like vapor. She frowned. She always wanted to see Gaia.

Ryan stood few meters away from her. She saw something on his hand. A moon-shaped weapon. Lire examined the weapon but unfortunately, she probably had no idea what that thing is.

"Ryan…" she said in her soft voice. "What is that thing?"

He looked toward her then on to the weapon he was holding. It took him a couple of seconds to figure it out. It had fresh coat of green, black and white. It was really a blade with a handle at the center.

"It's a Jade Hook," he said. "It's another nature's blessing for the Druids,"

Lire simply smiled. She felt so proud. "That… that's great,"

The druid walked past her, holding his new weapon. The female followed behind but then he froze, turning towards her.

"Go back to bed," he told her. "Your cold will only get worse,"

Lire sniffed and wiped her nose with her hand. "N-no, I'm fine, really. But where are you going?"

"Training," the druid replied unwarily.

" **This late**?" the archer reacted, staring at him in shock.

He sighed. "Don't worry about me, Lire, I'll be fine. Just go to sleep," He turned his back on her to leave. But she grabbed his arm.

"Ryan…" she called. "Please… there're monsters out there,"

"The orcs are asleep. Those Plants won't wake up. Sentinels can train without being noticed,"

"W-what do you mean?"

The druid cleared his throat when he blurted it out. "I'm a sentinel," This left Lire speechless. She sighed and gave in.

"Just be careful…okay?" she said softly. "…and come back,"

The boy nodded, planted a kiss between her eyes and ran off. The female elf watched him leave and stood there. When he disappeared in the darkness, she walked back towards the leaf bed she shared with him, tucked herself under the thin sheet as her eyes averted into space. "Ryan…" she said under her breath when drowsiness took her over.

* * *

The orange-haired elf walked through the forest. The place is engulfed with darkness. The only source of light is the moon. He stared at the moon as his eyes reflected toward it, making him look almost demonic.

After leaving Lire behind for her own sake, he felt guilty. The truth is… he didn't want to leave her. But what made him do this?

Never mind, he thought. I promised her I'll come back.

He continued to explore the forest, search for certain clues, and kick rocks with his feet. He carried his new weapon closely with him. His green eyes averted toward different directions to get himself alerted from any monster or troll nearby.

Ryan found the same fruit trees that bore berries. He picked few of them and popped them into his mouth.

The sudden rustling of the bushes behind him gave him a sign of something nearby. He abruptly turned behind, prepared to fight even if he hasn't used his weapon before. The bush rustled as he waited. He slowly approached the bush, pried his hands on the leaves –

"Kyah!"

A raccoon suddenly popped out of the bush and hurled itself on his arms. Ryan blinked at it in surprise. When he gave it a closer look, he realized it was his pet raccoon stealing socks from the poachers. It seemed he hasn't got any. He still wore the same green striped shirt and the leaf he used as a parasol before the night struck.

"Hey, where have you been?" Ryan asked.

The raccoon trembled, pointing his paw to the west. The boy followed its direction while it nested itself on his head. The druid slowly walked through the bushes, despite stepping on small cracks and rocks that almost got him tripped. Then he heard heavy footsteps. The raccoon squealed and buried his head on his locks. Ryan took another step, only to find a _footprint_ not similar to a human's.

The footsteps grew closer. The druid found a hiding place behind a tree. His pet raccoon climbed up at its tree branch for safety. Ryan peered closer when he saw a shadowy figure approaching.

An Orc Warrior. Its slimy green skin covered with rough scars shimmered in the moonlight. It carried a huge stone mallet and is wearing the similar orc's armor. Its small yellow tusks exposed from its slimy lips.

"Damn it," the druid cussed.

He couldn't believe more monsters inhabit the area. The raccoon started squealing and motioning him to go on. He just ignored the critter and went to a different hiding place. The Orc Warrior fumed, carried his stone mallet over his shoulder and took the heavy steps heading back to where it came from before it went hunting.

Ryan looked for another direction. There were more trees. He looked around and sensed Blood Locusts coming like what Jin and Amy reported to them earlier. There were no Carnivorous Plants awake either. All he could hear was the loud chirping of the crickets. His buddy raccoon somehow scampered away.

The druid walked farther. Soon he reached a lake with a small waterfall. There were water lilies floating on water and toad leaves. He stared at his reflection when his image rippled after he threw a rock.

This place is not so bad, he thought. No wonder why is it unnamed.

He looked behind him to see the cave almost at the distance. He realized he was far, way too far. Lire would be having nightmares again. But what can he do? He needs to find clues to get to the bottom of this.

He suddenly remembered the night of the confession. The moment he squeezed her hand tightly and shared each other warmth and his confession of true feelings, the question is: How long has he kept his feelings for Lire after a long time?

The only thing he remembered her as his childhood friend, well, he seems to be distant from her but there are times they played.

Everything has changed when Kaze'aze broke out, killed thousands of elves, destroyed the forests and broke their hearts.

Now Ryan is driven by his rage against her. He joined the Grand Chase to defeat the Queen and bring peace to Bermesiah.

But the thing on his mind is his quest to Xenia, with Lire, enter the Forest of Life and seek Gaia. How long will it take them to get in there?

Now that he's far away from the cave, he continues to explore the forest.

His head turned to his right. He saw something perched on a tree branch. The tree was not really far away where he was standing. He took a closer look. Then white eyes without pupils glared. It showed its wings opening and folding them back. Long strands of hair fluttered and a crown like a trident glowed in the moonlight.

The druid's eyes widened. He morphed himself into a wolf before the creature could open its wings and descend towards him. He went on a run.

Soon the creature revealed its identity as the Harpy Queen. Her red wings and purple body gracefully flew on air, her eyes averted on Ryan.

The wolf landed on his paws after a short jump from a rock. The harpy flew towards him, slowly flapping her wings like an eagle. Fortunately, he found a hiding spot inside a bush. He jumped through it while the harpy flew upwards then turned around.

 _What the heck is she doing in here?_ He thought. _How did she get in here, anyway?_

The Harpy Queen continued to fly past the bush where he was and turned around to do laps. One of her feathers slowly fell.

Ryan fumed, leapt out of the bush and made his escape. He ran in all fours before the Harpy Queen noticed him. She flew faster…forward. The wolf fumed abruptly. The harpy extended her talons at him, only knocking him off his paws, rolling on the ground and landing on his stomach, reverting back into his elf form.

He spitted out some dirt and struggled to get up while holding his Jade Hook. The Harpy Queen flew around him like a vulture. Ryan felt something dripping from his shoulder blade. The talons must have created a clean cut on his skin. He grimaced and grunted. He turned back to stare at the still flying harpy above him. The harpy smirked and grinned. She flew back towards him, again extending her talons and giving him another violent push. The druid staggered backwards and almost stumbled. The Harpy Queen then curled herself like a ball and unleashed a shower of needle-sharp feathers.

Ryan created his nature shield that only lasted for a couple of seconds. The feathers bounced off until they're all on the ground. His shield breached few seconds later.

He ignored the cut on his shoulder and focused on the harpy flying towards him again. Luckily, he managed to dodge before the talons could hit him. They went on like that for several minutes when the druid is covered in bruises. The Harpy Queen bumped and injured him with the power of her talons. Ryan has to summon his shield to protect himself from the shower of feathers. Feeling tired and exhausted, he tightened the grip of his Jade Hook and grimaced at the harpy.

His eyes glared when the harpy did another attempt. His rage went through him, giving him strength. The Harpy Queen continued to fly towards him but this time, she wasn't aware about his condition to fight.

He stood on his ground, holding his weapon on hand. His glance went on the harpy smirking at him. He closed his eyes, gathering all of his energy. He heard the harpy taunting him to fight. What he did is just stand there and close his eyes, concentrating on something.

Just as when the Harpy Queen would extend her talons, she was suddenly sent flying, screeching, and landing on the ground with a very loud thud. Ryan unleashed a small explosion of his energy, creating an almost invisible force field that caught a deadly impact with the harpy. She fell on her stomach, struggling to get up but failed. Her head fell back down and she was just an unconscious harpy on the ground.

Ryan panted in great exhaustion. Half of his energy was drained. He winced and clutched the cuts on his shoulder blade. His hand started to get smeared with blood. He looked at the cave from the distance, hoping he'll get in there in a jiffy before Lire grows dead worried. He finally morphed himself into a wolf, ran in all fours and sacrificed the pain.

* * *

He was completely exhausted when he made it back to the cave. He reverted back into his elf form. His shoulder blade lessened the bleeding before he put his Jade Hook on the ground safely and walked towards Lire in a deep sleep. The others were the same, still asleep same goes to Lass and Arme. The two of them seemed to share the same dream. Lass sprawled on the ground with Arme's head on his chest.

The druid sat beside Lire and sighed. He glanced towards her and observed her beautiful face. Lire slept under the thin sheet, the strands of her blonde hair lied in different directions.

"Ryan..?" she softly called out, tossing and turning. He proceeded to lay himself down and pull her towards him before she could open her eyes.


	13. Chapter 12: Choose Your Limits

The female elf wakes up from her dream. She didn't have time to recall what it is since the rest of the gang woke up early before they get themselves ambushed. She yawned, got dressed into her armor, grabbed her bow and arrows and followed them outside. Lass and Arme were right beside her by surprise. What she knew the only one who stayed awake last night was Ryan...

"Morning, Elesis!" Amy greeted, skipping past the knight. Elesis grumbled under her breath before she could blurt out something obscene. "Did you have a nice sleep?" the dancer cooed, her pink curled pigtails swinging back forth behind her.

The knight rolled her eyes and did a "Shut up!" lip sync.

"So, are we gonna split up?" Jin asked the crew.

"Hmm, maybe," Lass replied. "The Knight Master gave us two scrolls anyway. We're moving on to our second mission." He averted his azure eyes at Arme. "So... shall we?"

"Have you read the mission scroll?" the mage asked. The thief blinked and pulled out the newly-sealed mission scroll. He pulled off the seal and unrolled the piece of parchment signed by the Knight Master herself.

"Venue: The Whispering Woods," he read. "Destroy the monsters especially the Blood Locusts absorbing the nutrients of the trees and (obviously) devouring the blood of the people. Obtain the special tree trunk from the Tree of Life." he made a scowling face. "What? Do you guys have any idea where this place is?"

They automatically turned their heads at Jin, who blinked with curiosity. "Huh?"

Lass showed the parchment. Jin read the statements with curiosity when he placed his hands on his waist.

"You'll go over there..." he pointed east. "...then turn south..." he made a downward arm gesture. "...and walk straight ahead until you find a coast. You're gonna have to sail yourselves to Silver Land until you find a forest."

"Oh good," Lass nodded. "Thanks anyway." He kept the parchment and proceeded to hop on a tree branch. "C'mon, Arme. We're going on another mission."

The mage grimaced. "Hey, you're not gonna leave me again!" she retorted as she ran after him. "I'm gonna **fire-storm** you!" her small voice boomed like an almost screeching harpy. The two ran off until they disappeared in the distance.

"Well, let's hope those two won't cause any more trouble," Ronan said, his glance fixed on the direction they went off to.

"So, Jin," Elesis says. "What's yours?"

The red-haired fighter pulled out his own scroll and unrolls the parchment. As he read, a scowling expression, almost similar to Lass', formed across his face. He groaned and sighed in exasperation.

"Great, now I'm gonna have to take this quest with Elesis," he grumbled. This definitely freaked Elesis out of her mind.

" **WHAT?** I mean... **why am I**...?"

"Uhh... would you mind of I... come along?" Amy chimed between them. "Knight Master didn't give me any mission scrolls. I just wandered off with Jin." The fighter sighed in relief. Elesis controlled herself from exploding nuclear.

"Uhh... s-sure Amy," Jin nodded reluctantly, his eyes fixed on the hot-tempered Elesis. "I'm sure she won't mind,"

"How about you?" Amy asked the other three. Ronan felt more comfortable with the two elves. Ryan sulked himself and staring at a different direction.

"We're gonna stay here," Lire spoke. "We still have to explore this forest,"

"Oh right," Amy beamed. "Carry on then,"

There is a couple of silence before Jin spoke. "Well, I guess we better get going." He turned to leave. "Good luck on your mission. We'll be on our way now." The two ladies followed him behind.

"GOOD LUCK TO YOU, TOO! AND TAKE CARE OF ELESIS FOR ME!" Ronan yelled when they were at the distance.

"I WILL!" Jin answered back as he faded with the two "spoiled" ladies.

* * *

"So this forest really is unnamed?" Ronan asked later just as when he and the two elves are exploring the forest. Ryan told him the entire story of the Black Wendy, the harpies, the Moss Monster and the Carnivorous Plants ambush. The spell knight listened intently and nods.

"Let's just hope no monsters try to give us that surprise attack."

Too late.

A flock of harpies and an army of small orcs (along with Orc Warriors) surrounded them. The leader of the harpies, the larger one than its flock (probably not the Harpy Queen), formed its ravenous glare.

The druid turned towards Lire. "Listen, you're gonna have to distract them,"

"But there's too many of them," Lire retorted. "I can't do them myself,"

"Exactly," Ryan says. "The harpies are tend to be lured by their prey until you get the chance. We'll go for the orcs,"

Lire stayed silent for a couple of seconds before she made her decision. She nods and storms off. Ronan and the druid ran off to lunge for the orcs. The harpies chased after Lire, while few stayed behind.

The archer ran through the bushes, tightening the grip of her bow. She looked up and sees the flock of harpies chasing after her running helplessly. Dead leaves flicked on her face, dry branches pricked her skin and tiny bugs were squashed on her face. She abruptly wiped them off before she could spit more dirt.

_Don't just stand there. SHOOT!_

She grimaced and prepared three arrows. She shot them at the same time and successfully shot the three incoming harpies. Direct shots on the chest. She fired more arrows and hit several of them on the wings, talons, shoulders, even on the rained the entire field. Lire evacuated the area, her armor smeared with harpy blood.

Another small flock cornered her. She again prepared arrows and aimed. But then more harpies arrived. There's too many of them. They've surrounded her.

_What can I do?_

She starts to ponder while looking at the harpies around her.

_There has to be something._

_Lire... your comrades from the Elven Corps taught you one move. Think again._

"H-huh?"

_You_ _**know** _ _that move. Do it. And the harpies will all fall._

I... I don't know. Lire shook her head. What are you telling me?

_**Do it.** _

She couldn't concentrate. The harpies are distracting her. Those ravenous glares brought chills down her spine. She feared one of them extends its talons and tear on her flesh.

_What is this power?_

_I don't remember._

She stared at her bow, still pondering.

_Do it, Lire. I know you can._

Before she could form more thoughts, the hand that held her bow suddenly formed shimmering sparks. It's like the bow suddenly got enchanted. The harpies' expressions were replaced by confusion.

Then Lire felt confidence and determination go into her. Her eyes snapped into reality as she raised the bow to aim upward.

Under her powerful aim formed a very astonishing attack that caused the harpies to screech.

" **STARDUST RAIN!** "

A huge arrow engulfed by a glistening blue aura shot through the sky. Then it transformed into shards that rained the entire field and wiping out almost the huge flock. Harpies screeched. They collapsed on the ground landing on the backs.

Lire stood on her ground, panting. She stared at the fallen harpies around her. They were... lifeless. She did it.

She looked everywhere for more harpies to arrive, but to no avail. She ran back to the two guys fighting the few harpies and the orcs. She could hear Ronan yelling out spells from his swords. Ryan's growl in his wolf form.

By the time she reached that place, she sees Ronan cornered by the orcs. Ryan pounced on one Orc Warrior and knocking its stone hammer from its filthy hands. A harpy flies by and prepares its sharp talons to stab him behind. Lire is too prepared to shoot an arrow to that harpy as it screeched and landed on the ground, the arrow stabbed on its chest.

"Ryan!"

The wolf stared towards her, barring his teeth. He simply growled, telling her to stay back. He did his usual gnawing until the poor orc is lifeless. Ryan's mouth is again covered in blood.

"Kanavan Strike!"

Huge swords burst from the ground, created by a huge circle. The orcs and few harpies growled and fainted. Ronan sat on one knee, his spell sword pressed through the earth.

"Well," he wiped his head and stood up. "Guess that's all of them,"

He turned towards the druid in his wolf form. "Are we gonna spend the rest of the day exploring this forest?"

The druid reverted into his elf form. "No. We still have to get rid of Lich."

"I remember. Liches are magicians who give up their lives for eternal life-into-death," Lire stated. "Arme used to tell me a lot about magicians in her research."

"Interesting," Ronan suddenly pondered. "In other words, they raise up the dead as their army."

"But Ryan," the archer says. "We're miles away from Bermesiah. How are we supposed to get to Forsaken Barrows if we're too far away?"

"We could postpone this mission and get in there. I'll try going back here myself," Ryan turned his back on her.

Ronan and Lire suddenly exchanged glances.

"Ryan, you can't do this yourself." the spell knight retorted. "You'll only get us worried, especially Lire!"

The male elf sighed. "I know..." When his gaze went towards Lire, he knew what it means.

_I can't leave her alone. She needs me._

Now Ronan thinks he needs someone to look after him. But no. He's independent now. He can do this himself. But what can he do if this requires ditching Lire..?

"Alright, we can start walking now," the spell knight leads the way with the two elves following him behind.

* * *

Later, the three splitted up to find some food and clean water. The two guys left Lire to watch over the small camp they made before proceeding. She put her bow aside and sat on the ground, leaning her face on her knees.

Ronan arrived carrying piles of wood. He put his spell sword on the ground.

"Where's Ryan?" Lire asked.

"Uhmm..." he rubbed his head behind. "He said he wanted to stroll around. He even told me to TELL you **not** to follow him. He'll be alright,"

"Oh..." the female elf says. "I hope he'll be,"

"Seriously, Lire," Ronan started gathering the wood. "Elesis and I noticed strange things happening between you,"

"Huh?" Lire's yellowish-green eyes blinked.

"Before we guys split up, Ryan was sulking himself. Pondering, I assume. It's like you two are keeping your distances from each other,"

"N-no, we're not. It's just..."

"Last night, Elesis saw you two sleeping together. Even Lass and Arme told me earlier,"

"...and Jin and Amy?"

Ronan shrugged. "I don't know. Amy had a bad cold,"

"While you guys were asleep, he left to do a late night exploring before dawn," Lire says. "He even got himself a new weapon,"

"The Jade Hook, I know,"

"Few days ago before we left, Ryan seems to have a strong connection with you. You knew each other since childhood,"

"Uhmm... yeah? I guess so,"

Then Ronan proceeds to tell Lire everything. Kaze'aze's invasion to the Elven Forest. The fall of druids and heroes. The death of their parents. The forest ceremony. And the day Lire collapsed from the extreme fever. What surprised her a little bit: It was Ryan who carried her all the way into her room with the maidens.

As Ronan continued, Lire suddenly remembers the very day when her mother died in her arms. Kaze'aze's strong grip on her and giving her the chance to live until the time comes. The other side of the story of Ryan witnessing the entire scene.

"We'll be here for you," the spell knight says. "The Grand Chase will always put a stop on evil and regain peace,"

Lire managed a smile.

"You know, Ryan's risking almost everything for you," Ronan went on. "First, he leaves at night while you're sleeping. Second, he tries to bail on you to save you from ambush. And..." he swallowed, careful with his words. "...the night he kissed you -"

She twitched, her cheeks flaming hot.

"I-I'm sorry!" the spell knight holds up his hands. "That's what he told me!"

"N-no, it's okay!" Lire shook her head. "No violent reactions, really."

"By the way," Ronan pulls out something from his belt. "Ryan told me to give this to you,"

Lire's eyes went on the thin white sheet she had earlier in the cave. She takes it from him and wraps it around her.

"You had a bad cold last night," the spell knight says. "Elesis is surprisingly concerned."

"Yeah..." the female elf smiled. "I rarely see her like that,"

"So do I,"

Lire found a resting place on the huge leaves. She made herself a leaf bed and lied down, the white sheet wrapped all over her body. She suddenly felt cold. The sky turned white then grey after several minutes. She and Ronan managed to make a small tent out of leaves, twigs and wood before the rain fell. Lire sat on a corner, shivering under the sheet.

"About time,"

The female elf looked up. She then saw Ryan approaching them before the rain fell heavily. He sat next to Ronan to have a little chat.

"How's she doing?"

"Absolutely fine. She got the cold again."

"I knew it. Good thing you gave her the white blanket,"

"I did, alright."

Lire let out a sneeze that caught their attention.

The druid turned his glance towards her. "C'mere, Lire."

Without thinking twice, she shakily stands up, takes few timid steps towards him, and curls herself next to him. She quickly closes her eyes and rests her head on his chest. She let out muffled groans while trembling from the cold.

"How long are we going to stay here, anyway?" Ronan asked.

"It depends," the druid replies. "We're trying to find a way out of this maze. We still have to get rid of Lich, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right."

_When the time comes, I'll go back here myself._

_But how can I do this? I can't possibly leave her... can I?_


	14. Chapter 13: Change of Plans

Lire snuggled her head on Ryan's chest. Yes. It is the warmth she wanted. She longed to stay like this forever. Despite of the cold, she seems to be hearing Ronan and Ryan's voices engaged into a conversation.

"Ryan, are you sure you'll do this yourself?"

"I... I'll think about it. Not quite sure,"

"You better be decisive. You don't want to make Lire worried, do you?"

Ryan sighed. He remained silent for a couple of seconds while looking down at the female elf snuggling on his warm body. He felt her shivering, so he pulled her close to him to give her more warmth.

"You know, Ryan, going to Xenia is not an easy task. It is the land of the gods, remember?" Ronan assured him. "Amy knows a lot about that continent because she once lived with the deities where she's allies with Samsara, the god of origins. Maybe she'll give you tips how to get past the gatekeepers from the Border."

"On the contrary, the god of Domination might corrupt the gods."

"Hmm, you're right. Your destination is the Forest of Life, right?"

"Yep."

"Just in case Gaia gets corrupted, take note that she'll transform into a Divine Tree. A giant tree with serpent heads. She'll summon an acid rain or even summon thorns from the ground. I learned about the Forest from one of Arme's researches." Ronan says. "If you'll be travelling alone, please be careful. You are under the Nature's grasp."

"Thanks..." the druid nodded. "It's just... I don't want to involve Lire."

"It would be better not to bring her along, Ryan. Lire will be safer with us."

"But what if one of us plan on a group travel to Xenia? Obviously you'll all come."

"You're right. I'll be expecting Elesis to be the subject. Well, you know her. Tomboyish. Aggressive." Ronan snorted when he went back to being serious. "By the way, about Lich. Isn't it that you said earlier you're avenging for the dead souls?"

"Yeah. Liches are the main culprits of the corrupted souls. They use dead bodies to form undead armies. We Druids actually use magic. Necromancy has been illegal for centuries and yet Lich strikes for vengeance. Before Lire and I got here, a ceremony has been held in the Elven Forest."

"Oh, I know that. Lire told me the story before you got back." Ronan said, as his gaze fixed towards Lire. "Anyway, speaking of Lire, how are you two getting along?"

The druid's cheeks burned. "Uhmm... fine, I guess."

"You know, Lire can be very emotional, like most elves do than humans. Don't do anything to hurt her." the spell knight advised. "Just like today, you space out and suddenly keep your distance from her. I... I thought you've already started a relationship."

"It's very personal,okay?" Ryan said in exasperation. He lowered his voice as he whispered. "I dunno if I could keep this from anyone."

Lire bit her lower lip. Is Ryan hiding something from her, from everyone? She decided not to say anything.

The rain fell a little lighter. The sky remained grey. The trees swayed along with the strong gust of the wind.

"Ryan," Ronan called. "Don't you feel cold?"

"Nuh-uh," he shook his head. "I don't mind feeling like this, anyway."

"You sure?"

He nodded. The rain stopped pouring. Only the gust of the wind brushed against their cheeks. Ronan stood up, holding his spell sword.

"You two stay here while I pick up some more wood, hope you won't mind."

He walked out of the small tent until he disappeared from the distance. Lire moved away slightly, wrapping the thin sheet around her. Her gaze fixed on Ryan while he looked away to the other direction.

"Ryan," she spoke. "Are you really going to Xenia all by yourself?"

She saw him look at her, his deep green eyes fixed on her yellowish-green ones. "Like I said, I'll think about it." he replied with a bit of bitterness on his tone. "And I know it's not an easy task."

"I... I heard you and Ronan talking about it."

"I knew you'll be eavesdropping," He fell silent before he gently pulled the thin sheet from Lire before she could protest. She has no choice but to endure the cold. Lire pressed her knees together and leaned them to her face.

"If you feel cold, let me know," Ryan chimed without looking at her. "You know, I saved that sheet before Amy tried to snatch it away."

"Oh... uhmm well, thanks," Lire managed a smile. "I'd be freezing dead by now," She let out a sneeze, her nose going red again. "I-I think I'm gonna have to take it back,"

"Not now,"

"Hey, you're not the only one feeling cold!"

"You have to endure it, Lire. We can't fuss ourselves over a blanket!"

"Oh yeah? What if you catch a cold like I do?"

"I don't care."

Lire grumbled. She abruptly grabbed the thin sheet and spread it out. Since the blanket is just the right length, she wrapped it around herself. She put the spare ones on Ryan's shoulder.

"You might get a cold," she said. "...I can't stand the cold, anyway."

They remained silent for a couple of minutes and Ronan haven't arrived yet. Lire relaxed herself while Ryan suddenly morphed into a wolf. He tucked his snout between his paws and his tail flat. His green eyes fixed on her and let out a grunt.

"Huh?" Lire blinked.

He rolled his eyes and grunted, this time giving her a head gesture to come over.

The female responded and rested her head on the wolf's fur. He felt warmer. She kept the sheet wraped around herself and used him as a pillow. Ryan leaned his snout on her face and pressed his nose against hers. Lire put her arm around his back while the other one touching his paw. Then he whispered a soft grunt that meant "Feel better now?"

The female just moved her head and let his fur brush on her cheeks. He sighed and looked up at the gray sky. The rain fell lightly and heard the clouds rumbling. He tucked his head between his paws and went to sleep.

* * *

Ryan woke up from his dream after an hour. His eyelids fluttered open and turns his head. Lire remained lying on his back like a pillow. Her fingers curled around her paw, confirming him she is dreaming. The wolf sniffed the air. His green eyes averted north. He smelled something. Something _moving_.

The noise somewhere came out slow and loud. He grumbled and barred his teeth. He sniffed the air once more and finally confirmed something was coming. He wanted to stand up. On the contrary, Lire is still asleep. He didn't want to ruin her sleep. But he has to. Without thinking twice, he licked her face to wake her up. Lire moaned and made muffled noises.

"Mmh... Ryan?"

The wolf grumbled and urged her to stand up so he can do the same thing. Lire opened her eyes and yawned.

"Is there something wrong..?"

His eyes averted back to north. He heard the same noises. Big footsteps. He fumed and fixed his eyes on Lire.

"Don't tell me -"

He interrupted her with a loud growl and forced her to ride him. Lire clung onhis neck as he ran in all fours. He placed her in a small bush and grunted again saying "Stay there,".

He left before Lire could protest. He watched the identity approach their small 'tent'. It was Black Wendy. She must have followed them there. Wendy sniffed the thin sheet theyleft behind and dropped it back on the ground. She turned her head sideways, her yellow eyes looking for them. She sniffed the air for their scent but then she saw Ryan.

She let out a roar and rushed towards him. The wolf prepared his stance as the enemy approached. Wendy pounded her large fist on the ground. Ryan avoided the punch and ran towards another direction. Wendy followed him wherever he go just to get her hands on him. Then she opened her mouth wide and let out the same poisonous breath.

Ryan tucked his head between his paws and placed them on his nose. Unfortunately, Wendy saw his orange fur as she attacked again. She pounded her fist again on the ground while the wolf just dodged. When he finally got the chance, he pounced on her back and clung for dear life. Wendy roared and tried to shake him off. The wolf did the same gnawing-on-skin attackbut he only ended up brushed off by the beast and making him fall and roll on the ground and reverting back into his Elven form. He wielded his axe instead of his Jade Hook,his crescent-shaped weapon. He dodged the punches, the lunges and the attempted tackles.

The Black Wendy did a roll attack towards him. Ryan was almost cornered and exhausted. His eyes averted towards Lire fidgeting in the bush. But then Wendy was close to him, landing facedown on the ground, making it tremble and shake. The druid fell on his back and grimaced. While the beast is resting for energy, he stood up and went back to the bush to check on the female elf.

"Ryan, what happened?" she asked hesitantly.

He winced and grimaced. "She followed us."

"Who? You mean... Ka - "

"No," he shook his head. "Black Wendy, the gorilla we encountered earlier."

"Well? What is she doing in here?"

"That's all I wanna know." Ryan replied abruptly. "Quick, find another hiding place before she sees us,"

"But what about Ronan? He's still searching for some wood!"

Ryan grimaced again. Wendy rose up and let out a loud growl. He's left with no choice but to hoist Lire up on his arms and scram.

"RYAN!" she yelled. "What about Ronan?"

"Damn," he cussed. "If only he knew what's happening,"

Wendy's huge footsteps followed them behind. She roared and threw rocks. Ryan dodged the rocks before one hit him on the shoulder. Then he put Lire down and looked behind.

"Shoot some arrows to distract him," he persuaded. Lire nodded urgently and took out her bow. She fired two arrows as they hit Wendy's shoulder and knee. But she didn't feel anything. She just pulled them out and growled.

"Keep it up," the druid said. "I'll take care of her,"

He dashed off, leaving Lire firing more arrows. She stepped backwards for aiming range. She fired arrows that stabbed Wendy on several parts of her body. She growled while the wolf lured her to find her easy to attack. The giant gorilla continued to pound her fists on the ground, exhaling poisonous gas and the rolling attack.

Lire cussed and prepared an arrow, this time with intense focus. She maintained her firing angle and observed Wendy's movements. Her fingers held the quiver securely before she found the perfect spot.

" **Sharp Shot!** "

A greenish-white arrow shot across space and past Wendy, which formed sharp wind razor blades that slashed her skin. Wendy growled, writhed and fell on her knees. She is drenched in her own blood, panting and groaning.

Ryan smirked. "Nice."

"Shall we get back?" she asked.

"Wait," he held her back. "Your shot haven't killed her yet."

Lire pulled out one arrow. "I'll stab her with this."

"No, Wendy has a very huge body. There's no way stabbing her with an arrow would finish it."

"Well, what are we gonna do?"

The druid fell silent. What were they going to do?

Wendy growled again, standing up drenched in her own blood. Her yellow eyes are still filled with life. Her face is filled with wrath, hatred and rage. She took a boulder and threw it in a high arc towards them.

"Run!" Ryan grabbed her wrist and dragged her back towards the 'tent'. Lire stumbled from one of the exposed roots. She yelped and fell on her stomach, dropping her bow before Wendy grabbed her leg.

"Aahh!" she screamed. "Ryan, help!"

The druid gritted his teeth. He thought of something to make the beast let go before he got it. He closed his eyes and balled his hand into a fist. He felt green aura rushing on his skin when he saw his hand forming green spores. His emerald gaze fixed on Wendy pulling Lire by the leg while the female elf grabbed the exposed roots. He ran forward and threw the spores.

" **Poison Spore!** " The spores grew bigger when threw at Wendy, who winced and grunted. Her hands went on her face to get rid of the spores that seemed to be draining the energy out of her and transferred to Ryan. Wendy's energy went through him and felt himself healed for a couple of seconds. While the beast is still distracted, he hoisted Lire up on his arms and went back to their 'tent'.

"We have to get out of here!" Lire yelped. "Quickly!"

"We are **not** leaving Ronan behind." Ryan retorted.

"Crud, where is he when we needed him?"

"How long is it gonna take him for the wood? We're attacked by an ugly monster here!"

Black Wendy is up again. She wiped the spore from her body and growled, revealing her sharp fangs. She pounded her fists on the ground, causing it to tremble.

"Damn it," Ryan cussed under his breath. "Ronan, **get back here immediately and HELP US!** "

Wendy approached. Her breath steaming out toxic gas and her fangs sticking out. The two elves were cornered. Ryan shielded Lire by pinning her on the boulders that served as their only protection.

"Ryan!" Lire called out. "Look out!"

Wendy held out a long wood covered in moss like a dagger. She raised it up and focused on the druid's behind. Lire muttered his name and squeezed her eyes shut. Ryan did the same.

They thought it is the end.

When they heard gurgling noises from behind. Theyopened their eyes and looked behind. Wendy was oozing blood from her slimy lips. She fell on her knees, landed on her stomach and let the blood scatter on the ground to create a small pool.

Ronan stood behind Wendy, letting out a sigh of relief and holding a long weapon instead of his spell sword stained in blood. He stared at the deep hole he formed on the monster's back and managed a smile on the two elves.

"I told you I was here," he said.

The druid smirked. "Glad you made it. Otherwise we would have been squashed,"

Ronan rubbed the back of his head. "I was collecting wood like I told you when I heard growling and screaming. I knew it was Lire's until I heard your voice, too, as well. Good thing I got my glaive with me."

"Glaive?" Lire's light green eyes opened wide.

"Oh," the spell knight blinked, staring at his glaive. He flashed a sheepish grin. "Forgot to tell you guys I brought this with me before we left. Elesis even brought it for me when I realized I forgot!"

"So how long are we staying here?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I don't know," Ronan pulled out their mission scroll with the same forest exploration quest. "Knight Master sent us to identify this forest and get rid of the monsters in this area. HECK! Do we _really_ **have** to take them **all** down?"

Lire sighed. "That is a **real** problem. We don't even know where we are. We're half miles away from Bermesiah. We're still going to Forsaken Barrows and find Lich."

"I've said this before, and I'm telling you again." Ryan broke in. "We **can** postpone this mission, go back to Bermesiah and find Lich. I don't know how Knight Master's patience is gonna take but **we have to**. If it is searching for Lich we're gonna do, then let's do it. Then we can go back here to continue our mission."

Ronan put a finger on his chin. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. You're right. It's like _wasting our time_ wandering around here and not finding any clue about this forest's identity. Besides, Lich is starting to summon the dead and form undead armies. And that's a bad sign."

"The problem is," Lire said. "Everybody, except Sieghart and Mari, separated for their missions. They'll be worried if they found out we left them all behind."

"We have no other choice," the druid said. "I guess we're taking a very long journey back to Bermesiah." He was interrupted when Ronan snapped his fingers.

"That's it!" he snapped. "I'll summon my dragon to tell the others. That way, they'll be informed and the dragon will go where our destination will be!"

"Great!" Lire smiled. "Problem solved!"

Ryan smirked. "It's settled. Let's get this show on the road!"


	15. Chapter 14: To Town

_Are you_ _**sure** _ _about this?"_

_"You heard me. What gives? We'll just wander around in this place and do_ _**nothing** _ _."_

_"I understand. But remember. We_ _**are** _ _going back. An unfinished mission is considered unfinished."_

_"Yeah yeah. Now let's get this show on the road."_

.

**If time seems to be standing still, do you think we can make it in time?**

.

_Brrooo...rroo._

The small claps of thunder drenched the silence.

Tiny drops of the rain descended from the gray cloudy sky.

Three young adventurers. One is a human. His companions are two elves. Although the indigo-haired human is the oldest among those two, he doesn't mind travelling with them. Last time, they broke on a conversation. Something about _postponing_ and preceding to a different quest.

Who knows? They will return, _won't they_?

.

_Brroo...rooorr..._

The three characters made their way across the forest grounds. Ronan and Ryan led the way, while Lire stalked behind. The agreement of postponing their mission is decided. They will leave the others behind. Ronan will summon his dragon to tell them and let them proceed.

The Carnivorous Plants's ravenous eyes turned on them. They opened their jaws wide from the sight of meat. Poison seeds shot from their mouths. Ronan jabbed his glaive and sliced through the plants and tiny fountains of plant blood squirted the grounds. Lire used her arrows to cut through the vines entangling her legs. Ryan using his axe (instead of his Jade Hook), slashing through their stems and enduring the pain when he felt a seed shot on his leg.

"I thought these plants only exist in Xenia," Ronan commented later when they managed to break out of the dangerous bed of ravenous plants.

"Same here," the druid says. "Lire and I were attacked by those plants when we got here." He stole a glance at Lire, who simply nodded as he added. "There are a lot of various monsters living in this area. Even the ones from Silver Land coexisted in here. It's like all species gathered altogether in one place."

"Do you have any clues about this forest?"

"Nah, what can we find in here, anyway? Nothing but monsters and caves and ponds. Guess Knight Master wants us to wipe them all out and get ourselves soaked in sweat."

"Ryan, you said earlier this forest looks corrupted. Everywhere you go there're monsters, which means anyone wandering in here is not safe alone. And... we're half miles away from Bermesiah. I wonder how distant we are from there." Ronan placed his glaive over his shoulder. He glanced at Lire, who seems to be lagging behind them. The druid paused and let her walk close, and he grasped her hand, squeezing it tight.

 _Stay with me._ She knew he doesn't want them separated.

"Come on," the male elf said as he turned his head towards west. "We're going this way."

.

_**Special release:** _

_**Verum potion for twenty aurum! (Potion of truth)** _ _De Potione Vero_

_"A tempore vero dictum est periculosa. Veritas est grauis cura igitur paucis ad portandum eam. Noli timere, quia deest via veritatis ambulare super populum._

_Verum non timet periculum. Sapientia est nisi in veritate. Verum est quod homo angit._

_Verum est tutum locum consistendi ..."_

A man selling elixirs and potions got their attention. The three adventurers made it to town, only it's their first time visiting this place. The town is crowded with unique people. Villagers have their eyes glued on them for their first arrival. When they saw Ryan and Lire, they stared with hesitation. It's unusual for this place to have elves as visitors.

Ronan entered inside a shop where they encountered the man selling potions and elixirs. They discovered that this man is a potion-maker and a scribe. They read the words from a parchment written in Latin. The special potion, the Verum potion, sat at the center of the table along with the rest of them sealed inside vials. Inside this vial is a rich reddish-brown fluid glistening.

"What are these potions made from?" Lire asked, her eyes went on the other potions that somehow look familiar. Other ones are very peculiar.

The potion-maker faced them. This man had a long silver beard and thick eyebrows. He had a pair of dandelion orbs and a pale wrinkled skin.

"These potions are made from pure extracts of leaves, rare berries, dews and purified waters that are said to heal." he told as his right hand gave a swift motion to show his creation. "Many of these are discovered from different continents. I travelled for many years to show my greatest creations and I sold thousands." His eyes went on the Verum potion. "This potion is the rarest of them all. One who drinks this is said to reveal the truth he hides."

"Telling the truth... _literally_?" Ronan's indigo orbs went on the potion's glistening fluid. "I haven't heard about that before."

Then the potion-maker blinked. "Ah, you must be the descendant from the legendary Erudon family. So pleased I could finally meet the Royal Guard Master of Kanavan." His lips formed a pleasing and warm smile.

Ronan blinked in confusion. "You are. . . "

"My name is Aton, the potion-maker of Xenia." the old man introduced himself with a bow. "I am pleased to meet and welcome you into my oasis."

.

"Yuck!" Amy complained. "Please tell me why are we walking around here again."

"Stop complaining!" Elesis retorted. "This is not a place for little brats."

"Eeee~" the pink-haired dancer shuddered. "How can I maintain my poise from all these pile of dirt?"

Elesis grumbled. "No can do. You _need_ to get used to this besides dancing and goofing off."

"Oohhh...!" Amy retorted, half tempered. "...unlike a stinking weenie like you who really needs a bubble bath..."

" **What was that?** "

Jin maintained his silence besides the two girls bickering behind him. His topaz eyes focused on the forest grounds as he read the mission scroll signed by the Knight Master herself.

"I'm gonna make you regret you said that!"

"What? It is true! YOU JUST DON'T HAVE GIRLY GUTS!"

"SHUT UP!"

" **Hey!** " the red-haired fighter retorted between them. "Cut it out, you two! I'm trying to concentrate here!"

"I will if **she will**." Elesis shot a glare at Amy, who stuck out her tongue and looked away.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. He continued reading the scroll as he looked towards west. East. Then north.

 _Wonder if there really are monsters in here from Xenia like what Ryan told us._ He thought. He preceded north before the two girls ran after him (despite Elesis continuously picked on by the snobbish pumpkin-faced monster with them).

"So... if they said Carnivorous Plants existed here," Elesis said later on. "How come we can't find one?"

"Don't rush on things, Elesis." Jin confronted. "They don't just come out and pounce on you or anything." He looked on the scroll again. He skimmed every word, every word with ink splatters, every word with lines striking through, and every word with superimpositions. He sighed and just read. He couldn't believe the scroll he's reading would end up in an inky situation.

"Well? What does it say?" Elesis' almost hoarse voice echoed behind. Amy sat on the ground without leaning her buttocks, as an account of not getting dirty and stain her armor. She hummed a soft tune while Elesis just kicked off gravels.

 _For the love of Victor, how can I understand_ _ **this**_ _handwriting?_ Jin thought, pondering in a troubled manner. He wanted to conclude he can't read the handwriting properly.

"Jin!" Elesis yelled. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

_I give up._

Jin exasperatedly handed the scroll to Elesis, who snatched it when it caught her eyes. She mouthed out a "Hmph, about time!" and starts reading. Jin wasn't surprised when her red orbs started shrinking and blinking.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked, her brown eyes looking up.

Jin sighed. _On the count of three..._

"Elesis?" the dancer blinked, standing up and looking over to see the scroll.

_Three..._

"Oi," she poked the red-haired knight.

_Two..._

"Hello?" Amy waved her hand, but Elesis' eyes remained glued on the scroll.

_Two in a half..._

"Uhmm... Jin?" From the sound of his name, he turned behind. "What's wrong with her?"

The fighter simply shrugged, his topaz eyes focused on Elesis. Amy remained clueless.

_Two in a quarter..._

"She's gonna blow..!" Jin whispered before Amy knew what he meant. _One_.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!"

Elesis grasped the scroll in her fingers. She bared her teeth and broke into a hysteria.

"For the love of Kanavan, I can't understand a thing!" she yelled in the air. "How can I read when this piece of crap has its own language?"

"Huh?" Jin's eye twitched. _What is she saying?_

"What is that you're blabbering about?" This time, it was Amy's turn to snatch the material. She read the handwritings and leaned the scroll to examine them. She deciphered few words from the superimpositions. But then she noticed some words that were smudged. The ink seems to be fading and making the words almost vanishing.

"I think I know what the problem is."

The two redheads turned their heads. Amy showed the scroll as she spoke. "This scroll got wet last night. Someone must have left it soaking somewhere and get it sundried. That would explain the words you think are fading and the blotches. And this thing is in a pretty bad shape. It transformed into crisp."

"Hmmm..." Elesis placed a finger on her chin. "Only one person must have done that." Her ruby gaze focus on Jin.

"W-why is everyone looking at me?"

Amy sighed. "Jin, isn't your responsibility to keep _this_ scroll and _not_ to get it wet? I told you last night before we got in the cave."

Jin twitched. "E-eh? B-but I was busy making those leaf beds with Lire!"

"You forgot about it **because**...?"

"I...I..." he swallowed. "U-uhh... let's face it. It's just a scroll, right? It says there we'll beat up monsters in this forest and we're done!"

"Hmph, are you sure?" Elesis shot him a glare.

"Positive?" the dancer narrowed her eyebrow.

"Yes! Extremely positive!"

"Well then," Elesis placed her hands on her hips. "If it is monster butt-kicking, I'm in. Let's go, troops! We'll waste no time!"

The two girls marched ahead of Jin as he sighed in relief, despite the fact that Knight Master really ordered them to retrieve a pure tree trunk that can be found somewhere in here...

.

A girl younger than Lire handed a goblet of wine extracted from pure grapefruit at Aton, who smiled gratefully and took the goblet. He sipped a drink as he sat on a small couch. He informed the girl about providing a room for three and serving them food. She approved his request and unlocked a door. Inside were three beds with clean white sheets and pillows. Lire felt relieved. She finally has a warm place to get rid of her cold and rest some more.

Aton sipped on his drink. Ronan and Ryan sat cross-legged on the floor while Lire lied on the bed to rest. She lifted up the covers and hid her entire body in it.

"During my time in Xenia, I made the greatest potions. I sold hundreds until I made a thousand of profits. Xenia is the land of the gods. Two gatekeepers, Lenaisen and Octus, guard the Border. It is rumored that Xenia is corrupted."

Silence filled the air. Ronan and Ryan gasped and exchanged glances.

"A strange _army_ has something to do with it. It also corrupted Silver Land when I travelled in there to meet the Silver Knights and the leader, Victor. But then, as time passed, I heard from certain friends the Silver Knights were defeated and perished for some reasons unknown, and the leader Victor betrayed his fellow comrades. It is said only one from the Silver Knights survived and fought the mysterious pixie that is presumed to be the cause of the demise. The skeletons of the Silver Knights were raised from the dead."

"You're referring to Jin," Ronan said. "He is from Silver Land. He narrated us the story of his failure to defeat the Black Fairy Queen and his defeating of Victor."

"Hmm?" Aton narrowed an eyebrow. "A boy named Jin? You know him?"

"He is part of the Chase." the spell knight replied. "We are the Grand Chase from Bermesiah. Jin joined us and led our adventures to Silver Land before we preceded to start our journey to Ellia."

Aton's dandelion eyes widened. "The Grand Chase? I haven't heard about that before."

"The Chase were only three girls." Ryan leaned his back on the wall. "I was the first to join them when I was attacking the monsters from the Elven Forest. We first encountered Ronan in the Gorge of Oath before we made it to Gaikoz's Castle."

They narrated the story of their adventures as Aton listened intently. He drained his goblet and handed it back to the girl.

"I see." he smiled. "I admire your determination and courage."

"Thanks!" both nodded gratefully from the compliment as Aton went back to his story.

"The rumors were spread in the entire continents. Soon, everyone became afraid. They feared to be controlled by this strange _being_ and cause malevolence to their environment. And the worse rumor arrived: the beings from Xenia were brainwashed. And the unaffected ones told the being corrupted Samsara, the god of origins, and then, Starklin, the god of fire, Yamini, the goddess of justice and even Lord Perseo, Gaia's loving partner."

"Ah, the god of destruction." Ronan assured. "He possesses the attributes of destruction, chaos, darkness and healing."

Aton nodded. "True. He and Gaia are fleeing from the god Thanatos and attempted to seal their powers together, but they failed. Gaia was left to stay in the Forest of Life while Perseo stayed in his temple and felt a strange sensation. Nobody knows what it is. The other gods felt the same thing. They are binded with some kind of energy and preventing them from gaining their sanities and senses back. The deities started to grow worried. They remained inside their havens, the only places where they'll be safe. The one they feared the most is... Gaia will be next."

Ronan turned to glance at Ryan, who twitched when Aton blurted out Gaia.

"Is there something wrong?"

The druid stayed silent as he pulled himself together. "I... I'm a follower of Gaia."

Aton met his gaze. "A nature guardian, yes. You must be a Druid."

"I am."

The potion-maker smiled. "Well, you survived from Kaze'aze's invasion on the Elven Forest two years ago. You managed to fend for yourself."

"Actually, I'm not the only one." Ryan replied. Aton looked back and blinked.

"Hmm?"

He glanced towards Lire under the covers. Then he told Aton about his witness of her mother's death right after the demis of his own parents along with Lire's father. He included the incoming invasion of Lich and their mission to defeat Kaze'aze to avenge for the fallen Druids and for the Eryuell warriors. Unintendedly, Ryan stole glances at the sleepy Lire while confessing his feelings towards her. Ronan just listened intently (even when the druid's confessions reminded him of Elesis). He left out the part of giving her the surprise kiss during one of the rainy days. He told Aton about his quest to go to the Forest of Life and seek guidance from the deity herself.

"Ryan," Aton said, his eyes fixed on his green ones. "It will take you many months, or even years to get to Xenia. You need a travelling companion besides yourself."

"Are you really sure you're taking Lire?" Ronan asked him one more time.

Lire turned. They heard her groan as strands of her blonde hair scattered around the pillow where she laid her head on. Aton stood up.

"We'll talk about this later, kids." he said as he picked up his cane. "Your friend here is having trouble sleeping." He nodded towards the girl, who nodded back.

"May I know who she is?" Ronan asked curiously, his gaze fixed on the girl. She swallowed and hid behind Aton, who chuckled and patted her on the head.

"She's a shy little girl," he smiled. "She is an orphan I adopted few years ago back when she was just an infant. I named her Nora." The girl blushed and felt his warm hand pat her head once again. "Now take a rest, you two. And Ryan," he fixed his glance on the druid again. "I understand what you feel. You have to be faithful to Lire and do nothing to hurt her feelings. Elves like you are more emotional than humans do." Ryan's heart skipped a beat. His cheeks burned red as he nodded awkwardly. Ronan smirked _See? I told you!_ and whistled.

"U-uhmm... yes," he nodded reluctantly.

Aton chuckled. "You can stay here as long as you want. I've never had visitors staying here before. If you need anything, you can ask her," he placed a hand on Nora's shoulder. "Just don't try to pull pranks or surprise her. She can be a little jumpy and easily be startled." As he left the room, Nora flashed them a cute smile and closed the door gently. Ronan found his bed and fell on his back to relax. He dropped his glaive on the floor and inhaled the fresh air. He averted his dark blue eyes at Ryan. "Hey, you should relax, too. You got tired from all that walking, running and taking down Black Wendy. There's another bed over there."

"No,' Ryan replied. "I think I'll sleep beside Lire."

He proceeded to push the covers aside and find a space beside the female elf. Lire let out a muffled moan and turned. He placed his axe and Jade Hook on the floor and hit his head on the pillow. His eyes averted at the female elf beside him. She was feeling cold again and sniffing. Her nose went red.

"If only Aton won't mind if I morph into a wolf on this bed," he muttered to himself. But he knew Aton wouldn't like that. So he had no other choice. He thought morphing back into a wolf would give Lire enough warmth, apparently for him, he has to do it the other way.

_If you morph into a wolf, you're gonna sleep on the floor!_

"Alright," Giving in, he grabbed the spare covers. As he lay on his sleeping position, he noticed Lire's facing toward him. His cheeks suddenly flamed red, seeing her face almost close to his. Knowing she's in a chilly condition, he placed his hand on her cheek just as when Lire opened her eyes.

"Mmhh..." she groaned. "Ryan..?"

"Still have the cold, huh?" he then placed his hand on hers. "Come here,"

Lire smiled and let him pull her close. Once again, she felt his arms encircle her back while the other arm wounding its fingers onto her blonde strands. Lire felt his warmth and snuggled her head on his chest. Soon, she fell asleep and started to dream.

...

_"Oh... maybe he's not so bad at all. But oh well."_

_"Oh really? Maybe he's just using you for his own purposes!"_

_"Hey, he would never do that! I mean, seriously -"_

_"Ohohoho~! You better watch out, you think you're safe with him, ha? Think again, he might bring you to something you'll die for and end up_ _**dying** _ _."_

_"Shut up. You're so pathetic."_

_"Har-de-har-har, if you say so. I'm just telling you to be careful."_

...

_"Hmm..."_

_"Oh... it's you, Ga-"_

_"Sshh... be quiet. Don't tell anyone about this."_

_"B-but why..?"_

_"I'm your second inner voice besides your conscience. Do you still remember me?"_

_"I...I don't know..."_

_"You still do."_

_"I... I don't remember anything."_

_"If I haven't given you the advice, you could have been staying in that haven and spending your time alone and friendless. It_ _**is** _ _true your mother wants you to be with him."_

_"I know, but how does she know a lot about him?"_

_"It's a long story. He told you already. Please try to remember."_

_"Okay... just give me some time."_

_"... ..."_

...

Three hours later, Ronan woke up from his dream. He stretched his arms and legs and wiped the sleep off his eyes. He hopped out of bed and picked up his glaive and spell sword, placing it on his sheath. The glaive remained grasped on his hand as he prepares himself to set off to town to brandish his sword. Before he could open the door, he looked behind and saw the two elves sleeping together on one bed. Lire's blonde hair covered her face while her hands rested on Ryan's shoulders. The druid had his arms around her protectively.

Ronan smiled. Seeing those two together, _especially in bed_ , reminded him with Elesis. But he shook it off. He gently closed the door as he happened to pass by Nora sitting on a wooden stool boiling tea out of natural tea leaf extracts. He saw her holding a vial with a strange fluid. When Nora caught him staring, she froze on her tracks, almost dropped the flask. She hid the flask behind her.

"Sorry," the spell knight reacted quickly when he realized Nora is trembling as if he'll try to demand what that thing is. "Have you seen Aton?"

Nora shook her head. She just handed him the tea and grabbed the tray with two cups. She hurriedly went inside their room before she sees the scene going on.

Not knowing where Aton went off, Ronan shrugged and gulped down his tea. He put down his cup with a loud clink. He strided towards the door and went out to town to explore.

He realized it is already sunset when he barged out.


	16. Chapter 15: Between Sunset and Moonrise

It was sunset when Ronan barged out to town.

He walked straight the aisle, looking sideways to the villagers stealing glances at him. He heard bustling, murmuring, and various talking. Ronan walked past potion shops, shops with antique furniture, book shops selling ancient literature, prose and poetry, parchments, quills, ink bottles and scrolls. He even went past a shop owner with an ugly parrot perched on his shoulder. The parrot let out a loud caw. It cawed repeatedly that it started to irritate Ronan and the owner as well. The spell knight shook his head and stormed off.

He continued to search around the place. He wanted information about Lich. He wanted information about that being corrupting the continents. He wanted information about Kaze'aze.

 _Xenia has been corrupted by a certain "being"._ He thought of Aton's story once more. _Even Silver Land where it corrupted the minds of the strange creatures inhabiting it. Now that Xenia is in danger state, many deities stayed in their havens where it is only safe._ He suddenly thought of Amy. She was an oracle in Xenia. Stories about her life included her leaving the deities after a long time and making her debut appearance in some places in Silver Land. But he snapped out of it and focused more on the current events. _The being corrupted their minds to prevent them from gaining their sanities and senses. Destroying them is the only solution, they say. Even the Border gatekeepers were affected._ None of them revealed small information about Lich or Kaze'aze..

But where can he seek information with? Aton is nowhere to be found. Nora is too shy to speak to him. His two companions (the two elves) were asleep. He's left with no other choice but to do it himself.

Knowing the villagers are too occupied with various tasks, Ronan has to explore the town and grab an opportunity to seek information, that is, if he could.

His footsteps went on and on until his feet grew tired. He found a wooden bench beside him as he crankily sat. He leaned his back on a coarse wall and put his glaive standing upright to make it lean against the wall. Instead of the scorching sun, he saw the orange orb sinking. The pale reddish sky. The crickets started chirping. The dreary silence. Ronan sighed and went to rest. He closed his eyes after a couple of seconds to sleep and-

"Owhh, this is a surprise."

Ronan snapped his eyes open and sat up, startled. He placed his hand on his chest and panted. He looked at where the voice came from. He then sees a pair of almost black orbs staring at him and the untidy black hair flying briskly through the soft breeze. The black headband with yellow buttons are unmistakable and obvious who it is.

"E-eh? Sieghart?" Ronan blinked in surprise. "What are you doing in here?"

The black-haired gladiator snorted. "Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing. I'm just wandering in this place until I saw you. What are **you** doing in here, anyways?"

Ronan starts narrating. "Ryan and I are supposed to stay in an unnamed forest until he brings Lire. We got attacked by a Black Wendy, killed her, and had change of plans. So we've walked and walked until we got here." he finished as he proceeded to his next statements. "It was Ryan's suggestion to postpone the mission for awhile and defeat Lich. While the others stayed in the forest, I just hope my dragon will let them know." His sapphire gaze went on Sieghart once again. "Hold on. I thought you were with Mari. How did you get separated?"

It was then Sieghart's expression turned grim and funny. "Ughh, don't even remind me."

Ronan blinked. "Huh?"

"Mari and I **actually** went here together! Dunno why. At first she was silent and **then** ever since she saw a lot of antique products and stuff, she'd gone restless! She went from every shop here and there. **Gah!** " he exclaimed. "So now I left her somewhere and decided to wander on my own. The end."

The spell knight blinked again. "Ohh-kaayy..? Are you going to fetch her then?"

Sieghart's face turned red. "Ughh... never mind. It will waste tons of my personal time!"

Ronan then changes the subject. "So, since you don't want your time consumed for nothing, let me ask you some questions. I seriously need some information."

The gladiator snapped out and glanced at Ronan. "Fine. I'm all ears."

"Have you heard about Xenia?"

"Oh, Xenia!" the gladiator smiled. "I've visited that continent ages ago! It's the land of the gods. Arme idolized me for some reasons just because she've read a lot about me in the history books. Why do you ask, anyway?"

Ronan told him about Aton and his story about Xenia's strange corruption, a little about Aton's bio and his life as a potion-maker, and the girl he adopted back when she was an infant. Sieghart nodded while listening.

"I left those two behind than ruining their happy time." Ronan said, referring to the two elves. "Lire was extremely tired and caught a bad cold. Ryan's having a risky decision of bringing her along to his journey to Xenia and look for Gaia. I doubt they'll return safe."

"Ooh, that kiddo somehow has big expectations!" Sieghart commented. "He'll go to Xenia all by himself?"

"Well, maybe. . . "

The gladiator snorted. "A little inconsistent." Then his eyes went on Ronan. "Are you staying here for long?"

"I dunno." he shrugged. "Lire is, well... in a bad shape. She really needs to rest."

"Well, she has carrot-top to take care of her."

"Anyways, I need to seek information about Lich and Kaze'aze. Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Me? Well, I think Lich is in Forsaken Barrows. Since Bermesiah is extremely far away from this town, it will take you days -or even months- to get in there. And I thought you kids went to Ellia before! It's the continent where Kaze'aze's castle dwells!"

"We did. But we've only reached until the Hell Bridge. There's no way we could continue our journey. So we have no other choice but to go back and spend a little vacation."

"Fine. Carry on then. If it is taking down Lich **and** Kaze'aze, I'm in. Just let me fetch on Mari and take us to your temporary home and your new friend."

* * *

Peck. Peck.

The sound of a beak poking. Lire twitched and turned. She felt another peck. This time, she opened one eye. She saw a pair of yellow and orange-red feathers folded. She sat up as a sidtri perched on the front part of the bed.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked with a yawn.

The sidtri clicked its beak, facing on something wrapped in soft fabric. Knowing it is for her, Lire took the object and slowly lifted up the fabric.

To her surprise, a pair of crossbows sat on her lap, probably a gift from the Eryuelle elders. She took one and stared at it intently. The sidtri, now perched beside her and its tiny talons digging on the bed mattress, clicked its beak and cawed.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked.

The sidtri cawed again. Then she heard noises from under the bed. But before she could move, she realized Ryan was gone. She knew he woke up and went outside to refresh himself. She peeked under when a leaf almost like a parasol glided across the floor. The same raccoon wearing a green and white striped shirt is sprawled. Lire recognized it as Ryan's pet.

Lire blinked twice.

The raccoon got on its paws, picked up its leaf and rubbed the back of his head.

"What are you guys doing in here?" she asked again.

The little guy ran in all fours and perched itself onto the window. Lire followed as the raccoon pointed a paw outside. The sidtri flew, perched itself on the window, and folded its wings.

Just as she expected, Ryan appeared somewhere from the trees. He was there, resting his back on a boulder and folding his arms behind his head. His emerald eyes looking at the bright yellow-orange orb about to sink to the bottom of the lake. His orange messy hair ruffled by the soft breeze. Ryan turned his gaze at Lire and realized she was staring at him. He saw his pet raccoon and the sidtri perched on the window.

The raccoon waved its paw and jumped off, running in all fours towards its master and jumping on his head like its nest. Lire smiled. She followed the druid's gaze to the sunset, which she knew the sky is growing darker. But...what is Ryan doing out there?

Lire went back to the bed where the dual crossbows sat. She closed her eyes and muttered gratefully for the elders. "Thank you." she whispers. She took the dual weapon and placed them aside with her bow and arrows. She looked down and saw Ryan's axe and Jade Hook leaning against the wall. To her right beside her weapons, a tray with two cups sitting on it is placed beside. The first cup contained tea from real tea leaves while the other one drained empty. The untouched cup is for her.

The sidtri clicked its beak, opened its wings and flew away.

Lire stayed sitting on the bed while draining the contents of her cup. When the cup is empty, she put it back on the tray. She gently opened the door and checked to see if Aton and Nora are around. The main room is deserted. Both of them are out of sight. But she found the exit. The door. Ryan must have left it open.

She stepped outside to navigate herself to him. She stepped on the grass and heard cracking sounds of the dead leaves. She looked up, and saw the sidtri flying towards south. It's starting to become darker than she thought. She walked past the trees. Past the bushes. Past the boulders. Past the mushmons hiding inside their havens. Past the gooey slimes bouncing away. Past the ents staring at her. And there he was.

She saw him clearly from the small ray of sunset before it fades. This time he is wearing a -slightly- different outfit. The black pants he wore were still the same, only it has a green, white and orange horizontal pattern at the sides. An orange rope, along with green and white fabric with black printed patterns, is tied around his waist like a belt. He wore a green singlet with an orange streak and an orb-like design at the center. A green and white vest with black and orange streaks at the bottom. He had two gold-and-black arm bands on his biceps.

When Ryan heard Lire's footsteps, his green eyes shot toward her.

"You got it, didn't you?"

"Uhmm... hmm." the female elf nods. "They were dual crossbows."

"I thought they were guns." he said. "Rocco used that sidtri like a 'pegasus' to ride on and asked me for directions to navigate you."

"I knew it." Lire smiled. "And you named him Rocco?"

"What? He likes it. Glad he's not stealing socks from poachers for today." He turned his glance at his raccoon swinging its leaf around like a sword. "He must have followed us all the way to this town." When Rocco scampered away, he and Lire are alone under the almost faded sunset. "Come here, Lire, I have something to talk about."

The female blinked. "Umm, okay. Sure." She sat on the dead leaves with Ryan. The druid looked sideways to check if anyone's around. He made sure the creatures in this forest are not peeking. Lire stared, confused.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm. We're too exposed in here. Let's go somewhere else." He hoisted her up and carried her like a princess. Lire's cheeks turned red. Absolutely, this is the _second_ time he is carrying her like _his_ princess. She shook her blush away His footsteps went fast as he brought them towards an isolated area where no one else can see them. Lire had a feeling he's up to someting. She felt her head lean against his chest while he's running instead of morphing into a wolf. But to her surprise, she is carried by a strange avatar. Instead of Ryan, she sees a tall white-skinned creature with black tattoo pattern on each bicep. It had large hands and black nails. There are also black streaks on the back of his palms. She saw the face wearing a golden head accesory and had a long orange messy hair. His eyes were green, only there were kohl marked around them. A pair of enormous wings with majestic orange feathers unfolded. Lire gulped. She doesn't like the sight of heights, especially right now when she is carried by an avatar.

She squeezed her eyes shut and felt her teeth clattering.

"W-where are we going?"

"You'll see!" the avatar's deep voice (different from Ryan's elf and normal voice) chimed. He was soaring higher. He turned his head sideways, searching for a sure and isolated place. Lire is starting to get scared. What's he planning, anyway?

She can see the moon appearing behind the clouds. She heard the loud chirping of the crickets. She looked down and saw the full view of the town with the people appearing like tiny dots and the houses like mini blocks. The problem is, she _is_ afraid of heights.

"Ryan! Hurry up and put me down!" she yelled.

"Just a sec," he retorted. "I'm trying to think here." He continued to flap his wings. After a couple of minutes, he blinked and flew towards south. He found a safe spot. He descended and put Lire down gently on the grassy area. He folded his wings and turned his head sideways again. There were no ents, slimes, mushmons, harpies, gons, gorgons, or even orcs hanging around. Just the loud chirps of the crickets and the two of them. He reverted back into an elf.

"What was that?" Lire asked.

"It's a Nephilim." the druid said. "They are dangerous avatars of Nature's wrath. Well, they're demonic bird-like creatures according from the myths." He sat on the grass and pulled Lire forward towards him, making her falling on his shoulder.

"So... what are we doing here?" she asked him again. "You said you want to talk about something."

"Yep," he nodded as his eyes averted towards her. "You know about it. You heard me and Ronan talking about it with Aton. Unfortunately, in case you haven't, you were asleep. I didn't want to disturb your sleep by waking you up."

"Sorry. I was really tired. And I have to recover from the bad cold."

"But what matters is this Xenia thing." he said. "It is the land of the gods. We can't just go in there like cruise or a trip or a flight or something. We have to get across the Border, remember?"

"Uhmm... yeah. Will you go in there all by yourself or bring someone along?"

"I've said it before. I'm still thinking about it. You knew I'm referring to you if I will choose the second choice, right?"

Lire went silent. She avoided his gaze and bit her lip. Then she nodded.

"Nothing's wrong about it." Ryan says. "Who else could it be?"

"Are you serious?" the female asked. "We can't do it ourselves. The monsters have those godlike powers!"

"I know. You know _why_ I'm heading to Xenia."

"Oh yeah...right. Gaia."

"I'm gonna think about it if I _should_ bring you along. Ronan says it's too dangerous. The reason I'm having second thoughts I... I don't wanna get you involved. I thought if I bring you along, you'll end up getting killed. But if I _do_ , it will be a great opportunity to see Gaia and meet her personally. Aton told us something about Xenia corrupted by a greater agent than Kaze'aze and Dark Anmon."

There he told her about Aton's story. Lire listened intently. But what surprised her is the part where Ryan confessed a lot of things about _and_ to her. What are those confessions? Lire couldn't help but to blush. When she looked into his eyes, they were solemn. Could it be that. . . ?

"Lire. . ." he sighed. He slightly pulled away from her as he positioned himself in front of her. He leaned his hands on the grass that trapped Lire between his arms. She felt his face inch close. The moon starts to glow. "Can I share something with you?"

The female elf blinked and turned pink. His emerald orbs were filled with something she have seen before. Something called... _love_. Lire responded by whispering his name. By that time, his hands went on her shoulders. He gave her a tender kiss that caused Lire to respond back. But then it was replaced by a deep one. His hands then grasped her back to pull her close while she leaned her hands on his shoulders this time. Together they shared a passionate (and a bit hungry) kiss under the moonlight. They went on like that for a couple of seconds before departing.

They looked into each other's eyes. Lire's face is red all over. She never knew he would kiss her like that, but she... she liked it. Same as Ryan, who thought he hypnotized her too much. But he found it...arousing. Lire, unexpectedly, moved forward, wanting for more.

And they shared another one. That is when she realized he had pinned her on the grass. She saw his emerald orbs. They were beautiful and gorgeous. Cheeks turning red, she shook them off. She felt his lips brush on the base of her ear, causing her to squirm and afraid for another repeat. Her blush came again. She twitched when his tongue brushed on the pointy edge of her ear, as if savoring the taste.

Ryan, hearing her silent whimpers, stopped and gave his one last kiss. When they broke apart, they stared at one side and found their hands twined, their fingers curled tight.

"Ryan..." Lire panted.

The druid gave in and helped her sit up. He put his arms around her and locked her into an embrace, holding her protectively.

"I love you..." are the words he whispered in her ear under the sliver glow of the moon..


	17. Chapter 16: Full Moon

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Ronan asked impatiently. He and Sieghart kept on walking across the aisle of villagers. Sieghart attempted to push people aside when he did. There were cries of "Hey!", "What do you think you're doing, eh?", "Huh?", and "Jerk...". Sieghart simply rolled his eyes and gave a lame excuse of him in a hurry. Ronan apologized for his behavior. The gladiator looked impatiently on the stores randomly.

"Where the heck is she?" he fumed. "Crud, I shouldn't have let her go in the first place!"

Ronan blinks. "It's odd to see you overprotective to anyone."

Sieghart felt his cheeks flaming. He shook it off and looked away. "Ugh, whatever. We have to find her quick. The carrot-top and the goldilocks might be spending a happy hour while you're away."

Ronan shrugged with a smug on his face. "Alright, sure thing."

And so they went. They passed through the crowded areas, despite Sieghart's impatience, ("Out of the way! I'm on a rush session here!") a lot of people are starting to get annoyed at him. Not even one of them is convinced he's the Kanavan legendary immortal on earth. **Not** even ONE knew he's six hundred years old. Not even _one_ knew he's Elesis' grandfather.

His impatience grew when almost all of the shops contained no restless customer named Mari inside. He and Ronan have to ask every villager if they've seen a girl with blue hair and two colored eyes. He meant Mari's eyes, which has scarlet on the other. ("Excuse me, have you seen a girl _this_ tall and holding a tech manual with her? I dunno if she's a midget but she has blue hair and her eyes have two colors. Have you, really?") His received answers would be only shrugs and shaking of heads.

Sieghart's forehead creased. Where did Mari went off to? She should be here somewhere.

"I don't think she'll go into a place this crowded." Ronan says when the two of them encountered a huge crowd huddled around a shop. Hands pried on the construction and the atmosphere grew noisier. They were yells, bellows and cries. The shop owner seems to be stressed.

"It's so unfair! How come she has to get _that_ one and we have to get the amateur one?" one complained, clenching his fist and holding up the bag. The shop owner held up his hand, trying to sweep away complaining customers holding the same bags.

"Look, the premium one is in its limited edition. I've never sold it before. I certainly don't have an idea what you're talking about!" he retorted. But the customers keep on yelling.

"Do you realize you _sold_ it to that woman? Where is she, anyway? Why did you let her get away with it?"

The shopowner narrowed his brow. "A woman? I haven't seen any woman in here just a few moments ago."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR BACK IS TURNED AND SHE WAS RIGHT THERE! SHE STOLE THE PREMIUM ONE AND WE SAW IT RIGHT BEFORE OUR VERY OWN EYES!"

Sieghart and Ronan exchanged shocked glances and approached the scene going on. The people are starting to huddle around the shop and creating a rebellion. Similar bags were raised in the air and begging for "justice".

"What in the name of Merlin's beard are you talking about?" the voice of the shop owner boomed. "How many times do I have to tell you I saw _no one_?" But he clenched his teeth when those same reports started driving him insane. He cleared his throat and sighed. "Alright, if you really think a burglar would sneak in here and steal that premium one, I would have seen it and summoned the hounds to stop it."

"This man's out of his mind!"

"Coming through!" Sieghart pushed angry villagers aside as they ignored him. Ronan followed him behind. They made it through the pushy crowd then to the shopowner struggling from this situation.

"Sir, can you at least tell us what's going on?" Ronan asks. The shop owner sighed and prepared to come inside.

"Come inside, just help me with these fools banging on my doors." he simply walks inside while Sieghart and Ronan abruptly push the door close with the hands of the angry villagers poking themselves between them. Sieghart clenched his teeth as his hand tightens the grip of the knob while the other one pushing the door forward. Ronan did the same. The shop owner rearranged the items that fell during the "rebellion".

"How can we close this door when there are hands interfering?" Ronan grimaced, struggling to push the door close. A hand poked itself in and pinched his face. "Ow! That hurts!" He swatted it off when another popped in. "Ow! Didn't see that coming."

"I WANT MY MONEY BACK!"

"Unfair! We beg for justice!"

" _Criminal_! Foul, loathsome pathetic scum!"

"SHUT UP OR I'LL CUT OFF YOUR ARMS IF YOU WON'T!" Sieghart yelled. He wanted to take out his gladius but since the force of the hands were strong, he had no choice but to use his own hands for the door. A smirk spread across his face. "Oh yeah? You wanna get hurt? Sure, I'll help you!" He turned to Ronan. "Hey, let's push this door with no mercy!"

But Ronan doesn't like that idea. "Hey, we'll hurt these innocent villagers!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Sieghart! We can at least make them give up!"

"Hmph. Does **this** sound like they're giving up?"

"Ugh, whatever. Just keep trying!"

After a couple of minutes making the angry villagers give in, Sieghart has to yell out threats (with a Ronan confronting him from his curses). The doors were locked shut. The noises of the villagers started fading off. They saw a parchment written on the shop owner's desk.

_Xethos Windrunner._ _**Lorem ipsum dolor** _

_Lorem omne opus!_

"So, you're Xethos?" Ronan asks, looking up at the shop owner arranging tools from his drawers.

"Of course." he chuckled. "I've been selling wonderful craft items for fifty-eight years."

"Whoa... fifty-eight years." Sieghart says. Then he gasped. "Wait a minute. I know you! You're Xethos from Xenia! You're the one selling items for alchemy and witchcraft."

Xethos smiles. "If it isn't the Kanavan legend Sieghart. I've heard rumors about you wandering into continents." He let out a small cough and wipes off his glasses. He puts them back on and examines the immortal intently. "Is that really you? You look so young."

"It's a long story. I was attacked by a Great Demon and revived by the deities several years later. Yep, I'm a Kanavan legend alright." he said with a smug. Then he went back to their main subject. "About that premium bag thing, those people are convinced someone stole it."

Xethos shook his head in disbelief. "Nonsense. No one has ever stolen my precious items! Not even single one burglar entered my shop!"

Ronan sighed. "You could've turned your back. Maybe there was."

"No, no, no!" he shook his head again. "The limited edition of these premium packages are safe inside my trunks. They are stuffed with extremely rare witchcraft items. Very few customers get them not by money. Whoever picks the lucky stone gets it." He went to the other side of the table and went back holding a large container of grey pebbles. "The lucky stone, or pebble as you say, is buried within these ordinary ones."

"What do you do next then?"

"When one picks the lucky pebble, he'll receive a magic scroll that will come out of the enchanted casket." He turned towards a small green casket made out of rope weaved. "It will open by itself and voilà! The magic scroll contains a riddle. When answered correctly, the prize will be the premium package. If wrong, he'll get the ordinary one. He only has one trial."

"Sounds weird, but cool." Sieghart commented. "When Arme finds out about this, she'll probably go banana and pester ninja-boy to get her one." he snickers and says: "I couldn't imagine Lassy breaking into town and st -" He was cut off by Ronan's hand smacked onto his mouth just as when he's about to blurt out the word Xethos wouldn't like to hear. The spell knight shot him a glare and turned back to Xethos with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about that."

"Ohohoho~" Xethos chuckled. "A lot of wizards and magicians wanted these rare items. But unfortunately, only professionals know how to use them properly. One simple misuse and it's equivalent to experiment failure! These items are extremely powerful and rare and to be used properly."

"You see, our friend Arme is obsessed with magic. Every day she researches about it. Of course she'll get mad when you interfere." Ronan explained. "Sometimes Lass helps her out."

Sieghart snorted. "Huh. Like he does?" Ronan shot him another glare.

Xethos replied with another chuckle. "You two are visitors, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm. I see. Did you get lost?"

"Uhmm, kinda." Rona rubbed his head. "My two friends and I ended up here while we were walking from an unnamed forest."

"The Unnamed Forest?" Xethos' eyes widened. "Why... thank gods you survived! That forest has been considered forbidden by the deities! It's miles away from Bermesiah! You walked all the way here from there?"

Ronan nods. Sieghart listens intently.

"They were three of us. My companions are... forest elves. I met up with Sieghart because he's looking for his companion, Mari, which is why... we're wandering around here to look for her." Xethos nodded in understanding.

"I see. Forest elves..." he says with a nod. "What kind?"

"One is a Druid, while the other one is from an elf organization called Elven Corps. I hardly know any of them."

"A... a Druid?" Xethos blinked in surprise. "I've known a powerful Druid that fought for his people for many years..."

"Uhmm... yeah, something like that." Ronan laughed sheepishly. "But anyway, we're looking for Mari. You know..? Blue hair and two colored eyes..? She has heterochromia, which explains the colors of her eyes."

"I've seen her before, she was here just a few minutes ago."

Sieghart stared with anxiety. "Well? Where did she go?"

Xethos shrugged. "I don't know. The villagers have started a riot here and suddenly she was gone."

"I have a bad feeling about this . . . "

Ronan let out a small cough. "Uhmm, we have to go now. It was nice meeting you, Xethos. My friend here is in a hurry."

"If you're in a hurry, you can go now." the shop owner chuckled. "Just come and visit me anytime."

"Sure, we will!" And with that, they left to continue their search for Mari.

* * *

"Are you sure we're not too far..?" The female Elf asked. The Nephilim is carrying her princess style and flapping his wings in the air. The night slowly grew old.

"I told you... it's a few distances away." Ryan replied. Somehow he and Lire are flying back to where they came from. He can already sense that Aton and Nora are growing dead worried. "What worries me is Ronan. It's getting late and I'm sure he's not there yet."

"Maybe he went into town or something. . . "

"Yep, he did alright."

They went straight to the small house. Luckily, they found the window left open. The druid let Lire jump through the window before he does. She found the door closed. She slightly opened it and peeked. She can see Nora walking around carrying a tray then sweeping the floor. Lire looked behind and saw Ryan morphed back into his Elf form. He almost fell out the window when he succeeded to sneak in. He slammed it shut and wiped off his head with his arm.

"Turn on the lights..." he groaned. "It's too dark."

With a little light coming from the outside, Lire groped the wall to search for the switch. Unfortunately, there wasn't any.

"I forgot... Aton only uses candles," she heard Ryan say.

"Can I... ask him for one?"

"No, never mind. I'll just stay in the darkness. You tired?"

"Uhmm... maybe." Lire had to think twice of lying down or going to see Nora. "I'm having second thoughts."

Ryan snorted. "You still have the cold. You need your rest."

"No... I'll be fine, really." she tried to deny him but then she heard his footsteps coming towards her.

"Do you want me to carry you on the bed then?" he asked teasingly. His face was close to hers.

Lire's cheeks flushed. "R-Ryan! I said I'm fine!" She swatted him playfully but he dodged.

Without saying a reply, he placed his arm around her shoulder and the other one under her knees, again carrying her in his arms like a princess. He carefully laid her down and then she found herself looking up on his deep, forest-green eyes. He leaned and whispered on her ear.

"You have a bad cold, right? And it's obvious you're not fine."

The female elf chuckled and gave in. "Alright... I'll go to sleep. But don't leave!"

He smirked. "You think I would go out at a time like this?"

Lire blinked and blushed. "Uhmm... no?"

"Good." He planted a kiss between her eyes. "I got tired from all that flying. I need my rest, too." He laid on the space next to Lire. He laid his head over his folded arms and glanced towards the female. Her position is sideways and she's staring back at him, her yellowish-green orbs locked on his deep green ones.

"Ryan."

"What..?'

"Do you think Ronan's dragon will lead the others here? I'm starting to get worried."

"Let's hope it does." His glance went onto her again. "Are you feeling cold?"

The female shivered a little. "Brr... kinda. You're gonna turn into a wolf, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "Of course not!" He snatched the sheets and covered themselves. "If you're still feeling cold, you can come over here."

Lire rolled her eyes and moved close. She put her arm across his stomach and rested her head on his shoulder. "I have enough warmth for tonight."

Ryan smiled and wounded his fingers onto her golden locks. He stared out the window and saw the sliver glow of the full moon. He hoped for Ronan's return, then his eyes averted from the window and went to the small table where Lire's new dual crossbows lay, with the sidtri feather over them.

 _Let's call this a night._ he thought. _I'm really tired. Let's save the quest for tomorrow morning._ He chuckled to himself as he fell asleep with Lire snuggled onto him..


	18. Chapter 17: Mixed Feelings

 

_When this feeling of pain goes on, what can I do to make it go away? Even if I want to make it go away, it keeps on coming back. Am I really doing this?_

_There's not much time. How am I gonna make it in time before I can get there? Do I have to bring her along, or the rest of them? This isn't the way I'm planning it. I have to think!_

_Tick. Tock. Tick. . Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

_Time is running out._

* * *

" _Lire…"_

_When her eyes were opened, she found herself stuck in the dark abyss. She remembered this place. She's been here before. The last scenarios she saw were the deaths of the Elves. The very night her parents died from Kaze'aze's invasion and the following moment she met Ryan. But… why are these memories coming back? They're supposed to fade away now. Lire was sent to another dimension. She can see a flock of baby harpies all perched on the ground feeding on their hunted prey. She is stepping on a pool of blood that sent chills down her spine. And, the blood is fresh._

" _Lire…"_

_A faint and strangled whisper called on her name. She remembered that voice. It was coming from her front. The baby harpies continue to feed on the fresh prey that splattered blood on their feathers. She approached and heard the noisy caws of the harpies fighting over their meal. That's when she sees strands of blonde strands and a bloodied hand, the fingers twitching terribly, smacked on the ground._

" _Lire…"_

_There it is again, this time it sounds close. Lire hurriedly went over to the baby harpies and took out her bow. She shot one arrow to shoo the harpies away. They flew and retreated. She shot another one and killed one hatchling. The female Elf went over the bloodied prey, and her bow and arrow fell on the ground with a clank. She stood frozen on her place from what she saw._

" _I-is that you, Lire..?"_

_Tears streamed openly on the Elf's eyes. She knelt to her mother's side while the woman flashed a faint smile. Her face drenched in her own blood and the horrible sight of her stomach with a dirty and bloodied cut. Her vital organs scattered all over and her delicate skin turned ugly from the pecks and some skin torn out like paper. The hatchling Lire killed laid a few meters apart from her mother with the arrow shot through its back._

" _M-Mother..?" the Elf's voice quivered. She couldn't believe it. Why would she be in a nightmare like this? It's just her, and her dying mother. There's no sign of Ryan._

" _Lire…" her mom smiled, blood trickling from her lips. "You're okay… you're grown so beautiful I'm almost seeing myself."_

_The young Elf couldn't fight her tears. She shook her head. "No… this can't be happening! This isn't real!"_

" _Don't cry…" she heard the woman's soft and warm voice echoing her ears. "I'm here, right here. I promise I won't leave you."_

" _No!" her daughter screamed. "You're not real! You're dead! I'm not supposed to be here!"_

" _Lire… I'm right here. Even in death, I'm still here watching. Ryan will be taking care of you." Hearing this, Lire wiped off her tears. Her mother's bloodied corpse glowed almost like a supernova. She shielded her face with her arms and the bright light is replaced with a tall figure floating in mid-air right before her eyes. The figure resembled her mother. Long blonde hair with curls gliding on her back and warm eyes staring right at her, she wore a beautiful dress embroidered with flowers and tiny leaves. Lire rubbed her eyes, and the figure's image became clear._

" _Gaia..?" she whispered. The deity gave a warm smile. The ground is suddenly clean from the blood._

" _W-where did you come from? What did you do to my mother?"_

" _Your mother is at peace." Gaia said. "You thought I was your mother, right?" She let out a soft chuckle._

" _B-but, why do you know me?"_

" _I've known you for years before you were born, and while you're still inside your mother's womb. Your father is a great warrior, so did your mother. He sacrificed his life for her and the same she did to you. It seems that you and Ryan are living on the same boat."_

_Lire let out those hiccupping sobs. "Y-yeah… I'm only dreaming, right?"_

" _Sadly you are." Gaia replied. "I'm here to deliver a message that'll be the risk of all heroes, especially you and Ryan as part of the Chase…"_

_The female Elf's eyes widened. Suddenly she remembered what Ryan told her that night, and she recalled._

" _You mean…. An agent corrupting the Xenia deities…" she said and gasped. "G-Gaia, you are one of them!"_

_The deity frowned. "I'm afraid you're right. The Ascendant god is causing all this. Everyone is afraid; some of them left the continent and transferred to different places for their own sake. Not all heroes can make it to the Border and convince the gatekeepers to open the gates of Xenia to allow them in. You belong to the Elven Corps while Ryan is one of my followers and is under the Nature's grasp. The Elven Corps and the Druids are distant from each other and there has to be a way to make them affiliate."_

" _But I also belong to the Chase." Lire broke in. "Ryan also belongs there. We'll take the risk to get to Xenia and stop this madness."_

" _Yes…" Gaia nods. "The gods doubt you'll make it back to your homes alive if you take the risks of facing such a powerful enemy. Ryan is a Druid. If he dies, his fellow Druids will be in sorrow. The great Druid will be dishonoured."_

_The thought of Ryan dying made Lire's blood boil. She suppressed her anger and replaced it with a frown. She forced herself to tell Gaia about his quest._

" _He is planning to go to Xenia all by himself. He's not quite sure if he should bring someone else along."_

_Gaia's eyes widened. "Him..? All by himself? He'll barely make it alive."_

" _I-I don't know!" Lire shook her head. "Ronan keeps on telling him it's dangerous. We don't know what his real decision is."_

_The deity sighed. "As a Druid, he'll risk his life to seek avenge for his parents and for the fallen. As for you, Lire, are you going to do nothing or seek vengeance, too?"_

" _ **You're lucky I spared you, little girl. But when the time comes, you're next."**_ _Kaze'aze's dark voice echoed in her head._ _ **"And you and that redhead will be my next targets."**_

I remember. We still have two quests, _Lire thought._ Lich and the unnamed forest. _She looked up at Gaia calmly waiting for her answer._

" _I won't let Kaze'aze strike again." She said in her most confident tone. "She murdered my father from the invasion. She killed my mother in front of me. And now she's after me next. We will stop this chaos once and for all."_

_Gaia smiled. "You sound confident, Lire." But then her smile is replaced with a serious look. "You must remember that the Ascendant god is at loose to corrupt the deities and creatures from different continents. Even the ones from the Silver Land are affected. One Xenia citizen has just told you the story."_

" _Xenia citizen?" Lire repeated, confused. It took her a couple of seconds to remember when she figured it out._

" _Oh!" she gasped. "I-I remember. It's A– "_

" _Yes…" the deity nods. "The potion-maker of Xenia." She felt an essence somewhere from a different dimension. "I'm afraid I'll be going now. Perseo needs me."_

" _B-but…" Lire stammered as she sees Gaia slowly fading like vapor. "Wait! G-Gaia!" But she was too late. She tried chasing after her essence when her foot slipped, causing her to fall towards a great hole that appeared out of nowhere. She screamed on top of her lungs as she falls into complete darkness, not knowing there's a huge cone-shaped rock ready to stab her from behind–_

* * *

The sound of Ryan's name suddenly came out of her mouth. Her eyes snapped open and her chest heaving. Her hand tightened its grip on Ryan's shirt as she was sleeping on his shoulder. But this time when woke up, Ryan is sitting up on the bed. Ronan's bed is still empty. The Druid stared towards Lire now sitting up and her chest begging for oxygen.

"Had another nightmare again?" he asked.

Lire looked back at him and nodded. She wants to tell him about Gaia's appearance in her dream. If she did, he'll be anxious.

"How long have I been dreaming?"

Ryan stared out the window. The moon is hiding behind the night clouds. "Four and a half hours, I think." As soon as he looked at her again, she felt uneasy.

"Ryan...?"

"What..?"

"When was the last time Gaia appeared to you in person?"

"Several days ago. Why?"

Lire bit her lip. "Umm… I…"

The Druid set gazes with the female Elf, who looked back. "What? You want to tell me something?"

"I…" she began, but she looked away. She sighed and suppressed mumbling a soft "Never mind…".

A pair of hands grasped on her shoulders and a pair of emerald-green orbs stared directly into her yellow ones. Ryan is in front of her, making her face flushed slightly.

"Tell me." He says. "Is there something wrong?"

Lire gave in. "Gaia showed up in my dream." She said in a slight grim tone. She avoided looking up and see Ryan's surprised look on his face.

"Gaia..?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Our conversation is something concerning you."

"Oh… that." His eyes averted from her. His hands slid down and landed on the bed mattress. "First, Ronan, and then you, and then Mother Nature herself."

"Ryan," she sighed. "We're saying this again. Going to Xenia all by yourself is dangerous and risky. It's the land of the gods, remember? Do you even know the directions to the Border?"

"I'm still thinking about it, remember?"

"But still… you're not ditching everyone."

"Yah, yah. Not ditching everyone.' He repeated in an eye-rolling manner. Lire sighed again and threw herself back on the bed. She mumbled something that Ryan can't possibly hear. " _What I'm trying to say is… I don't want you to die."_

"You have to stop knowing what's best for me." She heard him say. "Because you'll get hurt in the end."

Lire fought back a single tear streaming down her left cheek. She wiped them off and replied with a soft "Fine" before pretending to go back to sleep. She stared on the empty floor and Ronan's empty bed. She knew Ryan meant what he said. Besides, she worries about him too much. But she has to. They've been in this journey for days, ended up on a village, met the potion-maker and his adopted child and were offered shelter.

She fet his fingers wound on her golden locks and playing with the strands. He thought she was asleep. She decided not to say or do anything but to drift off into drowsiness.

* * *

"E-Excuse me, coming through,"

She ran past the villagers looking at her with weird looks. A small group of gangsters is chasing after her. Why? You get the answer.

"Excuse me! Sorry, sorry!" she smacked more villagers out of her way to escape.

"She's getting away!"

Mari grabbed her ether tech manual and hurriedly flipped through the pages. Her free hand is raised with glistening aura. Unfortunately, her spell didn't work for it needs short duration of creation. She sighed exasperatedly and threw a short-ranged grenade behind her. A powerful lightning emits the area followed by the sound of the gangster's cries. The grenade electrocuted them and sent them paralyzed in all fours.

"Whew…" she sighed in relief. She tightened the grip on a package she's holding and hid behind a cottage. Her chest heaved and begged for oxygen. Villagers exchanged glances and had their eyes glued on her.

"Where can I hide this thing?" she asked, holding up the package she had. She looked everywhere for a place to hide when she spotted a large bush. She heads towards it and jumps in. She took out her toolbox and dialled the code. She lifted up the lid and found her common tools for machinery. Next, she spilled the contents of the package on the ground containing rare and magical instruments. She placed her ether tech manual open on the ground and starts browsing.

"Commencing operation." Her glasses turned clear white. She took a tiny duffel bag of incense from the package. The contents glowed bright orange. She put a handful and gently sprinkled it on an enchanted vial containing an extremely poisonous acid. The solution turned blue then to purple. Mari examined the vial as her eyes went over her manual. She grabbed a tiny teaspoon and mixed the solution in a counter-clockwise direction, as said from the manual. From the package, she took a small cube-shaped flask containing sapphire water. She spilled a tiny teardrop shape as the water mixed with the solution. The vial then turned sky blue to her surprise.

She looked on her manual when she read a small note:

_Do not spill on any kind of leaf or plant._

Mari shrugged and flipped through the pages of the book. She stared at the vial and put it down. She searched on her toolbox and decided to do another project. The solution required the right exposure while uncorked. She stared at the moon hiding behind the night clouds. It's getting late. She has to meet back with Sieghart. But how? She's been gone for so long the immortal will be frustrated by now.

She sighed and started putting her stuff back. She gathered her tools and closed the lid shut before shuffling the code. She corked the vial and shoved it inside her pocket. The package remained open as she placed the rare items back. She shoved the package inside her other pocket, but unfortunately, the bag is too big it won't fit.

"How can I get rid of this thing?" she complained to herself. She saw the villagers emptying the area, knowing the coast is clear, especially the gangsters.

She prepared her leave when she heard voices.

"Damn it, how long is she wandering in this place?"

A sigh. "Sieghart, I know you let Mari wander off on her own. But you should at least follow her."

A snort. "Heh. What can I do? All I wanted is rest!"

Mari saw two figures approaching. She hid back into the bush when the footsteps grew louder.

"It's getting late. We really have to get back. Ryan and Lire are getting worried about me."

"So what? Those two Elves are having their happy hour. They're asleep right at this very moment."

Mari gasped. It was Sieghart's voice, and Ronan's. A smile of relief spread across her face when she popped out of the bush. She went toward them holding her toolbox, her manual and her package.

"S-Sieghart!" she stammered. "Thank the gods you've arrived!"

The immortal's grey eyes went on her as he yelped. "M-Mari!"

The cerulean-haired girl bowed. "I'm sorry I took so long. I just went to a shop and got this lucky package." She held up the premium package Xethos is mentioning about. Ronan and Sieghart exchanged shocked glances.

" **You stole that package from Xethos?** " the immortal's voice boomed. Mari shook her head rapidly.

"N-no! I would never do that! The shop-owner was occupied with his customers. I immediately got the lucky pebble and solved the riddle right."

Sieghart's forehead creased. "Mari… because of you Xethos is almost raided by his customers."

"Besides, this package doesn't require money."

Ronan broke in between them. "Now that you found each other, we should get back, shall we?"

Sieghart shook his head in dismay. "C'mon…" he said to Mari as they followed Ronan. The spell knight took the lead. After walking for at least two hours, they have finally arrived at Aton's cottage. They stood on the doorstep and knocked.

"Hello?" he called. "Hey, I'm back!"

The door did not respond. Ronan placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" Sieghart asked.

"Yes!" he nodded. "This is the only house with a very unique door frame."

Ronan knocked again. After a few minutes, the door clicked. Nora slowly opened it. "Who is it?"

"It's me, remember?" the spell knight said with a smile. Nora cleared her throat and welcomed him in, but she stopped when she saw Sieghart and Mari with him.

"Who are they?"

"Oh, these are my comrades. They're also members of the Chase."

Nora bit her lip and gave in. The three stepped inside as she shut the door, securing it with a chain. Ronan went towards their room.

"Is Aton around?"

The little girl shrugged. She went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. She took out two tea cups, saucers and teaspoons. She grabbed the kettle sitting on the dining table and spilled water from the faucet. When the kettle had the exact volume, she covered it with the lid and placed it on the, instead of stove, charcoal heater. She fanned the burning charcoals turning bright orange until a small flame appeared.

"Well, what do you know?" Sieghart smirked. "This kid's serving us tea as their welcome." He sat on the couch while Mari sat cross-legged on the carpet, reading her ether tech manual and continuing her experiment. She pulled out the vial from her pocket and saw that the solution turned pale purple.

"Umm…" Ronan says. "You shouldn't do that stuff in here."

Mari just ignored him and continued her work. He sighed. He went towards the door of their room. He gently opened it and peeked. He sees Lire in a deep sleep. Ryan had his head over his folded arms and is staring at the ceiling. His head jerked.

"Huh. About time."

"Why are you still awake, Ryan?"

The Druid averted his eyes from Ronan. "This Xenia quest thing is bugging me. My mind's going inconsistent."

Ronan sighed. "Don't tell me you're planning to bring Lire along. I've told you it's dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that!" his voice is almost raised. But he paused to prevent Lire from waking up.

"We have our priorities. We still have to find Lich and Kaze'aze, remember? And my dragon must have fetched the others." Ronan says. "And oh, we have some visitors. Well, Sieghart and Mari…"

"Ohh, so you brought them here." Ryan said. "I haven't seen Aton for a while. He has to know about his new visitors."

"Nora is making the tea for them." The spell knight said. "Dang, I've been awake the whole night and I haven't had my proper amount of sleep! I'm supposed to wander around to seek for Kaze'aze information when I suddenly met up with Sieghart. We had to cope with the angry villagers just to find Mari."

"Well, at least we now have company."

"So, how are you and Lire doing while I'm away?"

Ryan cleared his throat. "Umm… fine, as usual." He lied. "She still has that cold. I'm hoping for her speedy recovery."

Lire turned in her sleep and groaned.

The Druid watched Ronan step out of the room. He stared at the female Elf intently. Her story of her conversation with Gaia is bugging him. Gaia never appeared on his dream. How come she did on Lire's? Her words about keeping him at bay from going to Xenia is making him upset. First: Ronan. Second: Lire. And now…Gaia?

 _So Gaia is also concerned for my journey in Xenia._ He thought. _Crap, I bet they're trying to stop me._

" _You have to be decisive, Ryan. Going to Xenia alone is dangerous and risky."_

" _It's better not to bring Lire. She'll be safe with us."_

" _Ryan, my dream has something concerning you! Gaia told me herself!"_

The Druid grimaced. Those words are haunting his mind. They're concerned about him, especially Lire, who mentioned Gaia in front of him.

" _You better stop knowing what's best for me. You'll only get hurt in the end."_

 _Damn it!_ His eyes squeezed shut. _I'm such a jerk. Why the hell would I say that in the first place?_ His hands balled into fists, his fingers grasping on the bed mattress. He stole another glance at Lire asleep beside him.

 _You don't want me away from you, right?_ He thought grudgingly. _You're sticking yourself to me like glue. I'm having second thoughts of bringing you along._

He sighed and set glazes on her golden locks that remind him of Gaia. _We're in an unknowing intimate relationship, right? Should I decide for a cool-off?_

He suddenly remembered the first time he stole Lire's first kiss during one of those rainy nights. His finger traced itself on his lips. _What can I do? Does that mean kissing her would make our relationship better?_

Suddenly, his face turned grim. _It's just another stupid kiss. Dunno why I would do it in the first place._

Soon he realized his pondering will hurt Lire's feelings if he will blurt them out of his mouth. For some complicated reasons, he sighed in annoyance.

_Fine, I'll stay with you, Lire. When the time comes, I'll be gone. I'm sorry…_

He sat up on the bed and positioned himself on top of the sleepy Lire. Her sleeping position is sideways. He wanted her laid on her back and facing him. He leaned his face to hers and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

_I'm sorry._

Lire turned and moaned. Luckily, she didn't wake up.

_If you want me to stay, I'm afraid I can't. This is_ _**my** _ _quest._

That's it. He made his decision. If it is leaving her, and the rest of the Chase, he wants, he'll do it. But only for the right time. Lire will be so dead worried. After all, if he's gone, her tears will fall. He wanted to say he doesn't care. But would that help her understand..?

_If Ronan tries to stop me, I'll tell him I'll leave Lire behind. That'll probably make him happy._

With that, he slowly hopped off the bed, grabbed his Jade Hook and axe, and opened the window. He had to look back to see if Lire is disturbed by the noise. When he succeeded, he took his one last glance at Lire and hopped out the window.

_I'm sorry, Lire.._

_I hope you'll understand._


	19. Chapter 19: Resolve

_He runs away from the three humans. Their pairs of orbs watched him run away until he's out of sight. The wolf's deep emerald-green eyes glared at the path he's running on. Ditching his comrades is his only remedy to implement his plan. The indigo-haired male's concerned advices echoed in his head like a disturbing melody._

_What about_ her _? Why would you bring_ her _along? You know it's dangerous. His voice would say_ she _is the concern. But now he's running, he left_ her _for the sake of this plan._

_His paws pounded on the ground as he stopped. His head jerked sideways and he sniffed the air for directions. The orange wolf ran off, until he disappeared in the distance._

_I'm sorry, Lire. You'll_ probably _hate me for this…_

* * *

**Two weeks later**

The two-week time span emerged. The Chase separated into two – the first group remained in various places after their meeting regarding Lich and Kaze'aze and they decided to take them down themselves, unless they needed help, while the second group went back to the castle. Mari went back to her laboratory to test the premium package (yes, still alive and standing) she stole. Amy returned for her violin practice while Lire, however, sulked inside her room. She is there sitting on her bed, her knees close together and her chin resting against them.

The only one absent from the crew is Ryan.

From the previous days of his absence, the female Elf slowly grew numb. The same question flooded her head like a lifeless melody. So that's it. He left her. Just like that.

"Uhmm… Lire?"

A knock came from her door. She hopped off her bed and found Arme standing in front of her.

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

Arme toyed with her fingers. "I hope you won't mind if you could umm… help me take care of the garden. It's been a very, very, very long time and the plants are starting to lose their green color. Well, you have a green thumb, right?"

Lire blinked twice. She saw the pair of pleading amethyst orbs begging her.

She replied with a pleasing smile. "Sure thing, thanks for reminding me about the garden~"

The purple-haired magician leapt for joy. "Yay~"

Both girls departed from the living room and headed to the garden, and Arme was right. The plants are almost decayed after their semi-long term absence. Arme rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly.

"S-See… I-I just checked them out last night and I freaked out." She said. "Since the others are playing lazy as usual, looks like it's just you and me restoring this place back to life."

Without saying any word, Lire grabbed the gardening container and filled it with water. Arme started pulling out the disturbing weeds before she was covered in fertilized soil. She coughed and spitted out dirt. The female Elf decided to go back to the small pond with the same water lilies. She saw her own watery reflection… and it reminded her about the night she and that druid are sitting together in front of a pond, staring at each other's reflections until she fell asleep on his shoulder. Now she won't feel him anymore. Now that he's gone…

 _Forget about him. You don't deserve to be with him!_ Her conscience rattled in her head again. _Are you addicted to him or_ _ **what**_ _? He left you because he has plans without you!_

Lire's face turned grim. She ignored her inner voice rattling and meddling with her once again.

_What's wrong? You're mad because you don't want to accept the truth? C'mon admit it! You still love him, don't you?_

Her hands balled into fists. She fumed under her breath while watering the plants beside her.

_I'll take that as a yes, goldilocks! Silence means_ _**yes** _ _!_

"SHUT UP!"

Arme suddenly froze, almost dropping the Venus flytrap flower pot she's holding. The magician saw the blonde-haired archer mad at herself that got her curious and flinching at the same time.

"L-Lire…" her lips quivered. "I-Is there something wrong?"

The Elf blinked, snapped back to the reality. She jerked her head at the amethyst-eyed female.

"Oh umm… I'm sorry…" she frowned. _It's just I… lost myself._

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" the mage asked with concern on her tone.

Lire flashed a forced smile. "S-Sure, never better!"

It took a couple of seconds before Arme's doubted glance is replaced by her normal one. "That's great. Umm… do you know where can I put this plant-animal thingy? Its saliva is starting to disgust me…" She said while staring at the Venus flytrap opening its wide mouth and showing its pointy "teeth".

"Put it over there." She pointed a finger to her left, referring to the dish gardens crowded with the other Venus flytraps. "That's our fifth flytrap this year."

The female magician obeyed her order. She put the monstrous plant down and quickly locked the fence. She wiped off a sweat and smiled at Lire.

"Thanks a lot!" she chuckled. "These things could've eaten me."

Lire nodded and smiled back. "No problem. I'll take care of the garden myself. You can rest now."

Arme frowned. "Aww… but I want to help!"

"I can do this myself. I'll call you if I need anything."

The purple-haired mage pouted. "Fine…"

When she left the garden, Lire sighed in relief. She needed some time alone. Some space. . .

_Stop telling people what's best for them. You'll only get hurt in the end._

_Quit minding other people's businesses, you don't really have an idea what they're going through._

_What they're going through._

_What they're going through…_

_**What they're going through…** _

Between sad sighs, she watered the plants, pulled out their weeds, removed the sprouts and placed them into individual flower pots. When she's done, she put down the gardening pot and left the garden as well. She headed towards the kitchen to look for something to eat. Amy is sitting on the table with her violin leaning on the leg of the chair. The muse compiled the stack of papers containing violin pieces (notes) scattered on the entire table.

"Sorry!" Amy yelped when she saw the female Elf. "I-I'll clean this mess up, don't worry!"

"No problem." Lire flashed another smile. She opened the fridge and found a saucer of pudding sitting at the center of the second shelf. She looked sideways before taking the sweet dessert.

Amy snickered. "Elesis is saving that for Ronan. You can eat it, go on."

Lire decided to take its half. Amy finally saw the sadness underneath her face. The muse frowned and sighed.

 _Should I tell her?_ She thought. _Ryan told us to but…_

" _Tell Ronan, especially Lire, I'm going back to Elven Forest. If she worries about me, tell her not to go out and find me. She's on her own now."_

Amy found herself lost in her own thoughts.

_Why would Ryan do this to Lire? Something might have happened between them._

A sheet of her violin piece fluttered from the table as she hurriedly picked it up. She put back the pieces in order inside her clear book. She glanced at the female Elf who did revealed the sadness she's been keeping all along.

"Lire…"

The blonde glanced back at Amy. "Yes?"

"There's… something I want to tell you." She slowly closed the clear book and looked at her in the eyes with concern. "Did something happen between you and… Ryan?"

Just as she'd expected, Lire twitched from the druid's name. Her light green eyes looked back at her brown ones with shock and fear.

"H-How did you . . ?"

"Lire, I'm sorry!" Amy's frown deepened. "Two weeks ago we caught Ryan running away! He wants to go to Xenia all by himself. W-We tried to stop him but… he suddenly told us he'll be going back to Elven Forest… **all by himself**!" Tears starting to stream down her eyes. "I-I don't want you to become worried! From the look on his eyes I can tell he might have done something to hurt you…"

Lire's green eyes started glistening. "Amy…"

Amy sniffled and wiped off her tears. "I'm sorry I kept it as a secret. Jin and Elesis were with me that time…"

The female Elf fell silent for a couple of moments when she spoke. "Why would he go back?"

"I-I dunno…" the muse shook her head. "He never told us the reason."

Lire paused from eating and pondered.

_He's going back to the Elven Forest on his own when I thought he was in Xenia. He wants space between us. Was it my dream of Gaia's presence that made him upset?_

Without saying anything, she put down her spoon, stood from her chair and went back upstairs to her room. Amy sighed sadly and stared at her closed clear book.

_Please bear with his resolve…_

* * *

 

It was the same as before when lunch time is served at the forest havens. The Elves sat on their respective seats with their meals and bustled on their places while eating. The maidens ushered the rest of them. Marina, Lire's personal care-giver, has been maintaining the orderliness of Lire's room ever since she left, and it's been a very long time when she was here back then. Knowing her room would be empty all the time, Marina decides to check the other room. She slowly opened the door to find an orange-haired boy sulking on his bed and staring into space. To her surprise, she approached the boy before he jerked his head to see her presence.

"I didn't know you would come back all of a sudden." She said, sitting next to him. "Why aren't you with Lire?"

The sound of that name caused him to wince. Ryan avoided the maiden's glance for a few moments before returning to her. "She is… kinda busy with the Chase, I guess."

Marina noticed his strange behaviour. "What's wrong? Why do you look so gloomy? Did…something happen between you two?"

"No," he lied. "Nothing, really."

"Hmm?" the maiden eyed him carefully before she gave in with a sigh. "Okay then… food is ready now, c'mon." She stood up and went towards the door. She motioned him to come along as he followed. Ryan soon joined the rest of the Elves feasting on their food. He watched them happily eat their meals, suddenly feeling left out. He stared at the dish served in front of him before proceeding to eat.

* * *

An hour after the meals, he went strolling around the Elven Forest. He sees the same clearings and the Elves using bows and arrows as their training weapons. The sight of the arrows stabbing the trees suddenly reminded her of Lire. He kept a straight face and proceeded. He has to choose which weapon he will use for training purposes. He has three options: axe, jade hook or the scythe. He got the scythe from the previous two weeks since his sudden departure from Aton's house. During his two-week journey he wielded the curved blade weapon with a long handle while strolling around a rainforest. The nature whisperers served as his navigator until he faced the head of the Druids, Moru Pi'su.

He held the weapon of his choice, his axe, over his shoulder and proceeded to an empty clearing. He checked the area to see if someone else would try to interfere, and he saw none. Despite the heavy weapon he carries, he needed _real_ moving targets. Dummies and mannequins are starting to become boring and mainstream for him. He at least expects some orcs, small trolls or harpies to mess with him until his one of the options were granted.

A small group of mini trolls leapt a few meters in front of him. The druid readied his axe and his stance to fight. The trolls immediately charged towards him in all fours. Ryan smirked and prepared to lunge. He performed his physical combat skills and the skilful swing of his axe. He knocked out the mini trolls from his sight and landed on his feet. The trolls retreated and made their escape. He shook his head and made another strolling to the forest. His eyes went toward a bunch of small flowers with pure white petals. The moment he saw them made him think about Lire again. He bent his knees down to examine the floral plants. He picked one and stood up.

_This is the flower that symbolizes purity and solitude. She always wanted this to gain happiness._

He left the plants to continue his strolling. The white flower remained on his fingers while the other hand is his axe held over his shoulder. He'll just wander all by himself to kill time… and return, if he would…

* * *

"Hey, cheer up, will ya?" Jin placed his hand on Ronan's shoulder. "I'm sure Ryan will be alright. He can take care of himself."

Ronan has worry plastered on his face. He was worried for Ryan, especially Lire. He was pitiful for her, after seeing her cry in pain because of Ryan abandoning her. Despite that the druid is the only one absent from the group, all he ever wants is to find him and reunite the two Elves…

"I know… he's been gone for two weeks!" he told Jin. "You should think how Lire felt when he left her behind while she was asleep."

Jin's eyes widened. "I remember, that's why he was trying to run away from us by transforming himself into a wolf. We caught him and asked him a lot of questions. We don't know what his real plan is, but he has to think about Lire's feelings!"

Lass folded his arms behind his head in his bored posture. "That Elf's obsessed of finding Gaia. You mentioned something about Xenia and Forest of Life."

"Yeah," Jin nods. "He said he wants to go in there for some guidance thingy after we all defeat Kaze'aze. Well, we can't argue with him, though. It's for his own good, I guess."

Ronan glanced at the redhead. "What else did he say?"

"I don't remember… Elven Forest and… gah! Stupid me forgetting things!"

The magic knight froze. "Elven Forest?"

"Uhmm… yeah? Why do you ask?"

 _Elven Forest…_ he pondered. _What in the world is he planning? Is he… is he_ _ **going back to the Elven Forest for his own sake?**_

"Now I get it." He said. "The Elven Forest is his destination to get himself prepared. Does Lire know anything about this?"

Jin rubbed the back of his head. "Well… I did tell Amy to tell her, if she really did."

"Well, if she did, Lire would've left the castle to follow him!"

"I don't think so. He told us to tell it to you both and I'm saying it now. **Do not dare look for him or follow him. He doesn't want anyone messing around with him. He is going back to the Elven Forest for some rest and will leave at a certain day and head straight to Xenia without any of us knowing about it.** Ryan said it himself."

"What?" Ronan cried. "Why would he – "

"Don't blame me. _He said it himself!_ "

"If I could contribute some suggestion, I say we go to the Elven Forest to search for him, would that be alright?" Lass broke in. "Anyway, Ryan would still be getting ready for his mission."

"What if Lich gets there before us? He'll dominate the Forest with his undead army and play with the souls of the dead. Ryan tells me the landlord of the forest is using his heroes to counter Lich's arrival while it's at risk. Very well then, we will cancel our mission and head straight to Elven Forest for Ryan." Ronan decided as his companions showed their signs of support.

"Now that we're changing venues, has anyone seen Sieghart?" Jin blurted out before they did realize Sieghart is missing from the crew.

Lass snorted. "Nah, who needs him? He always has tricks up his sleeves."

"HEY, DON'T GO WITHOUT ME, IDIOTS!"

They looked up to see the black-haired immortal hanging on one of the vines. He swung on it and let go, landing on a tree branch, then on another… and another, until he was on the ground where they are. He approached the crew and put his hands on his waist.

"So, did I miss anything?"

"Plenty." Lass replied. "We're cancelling this mission."

Sieghart's lips formed a cocky grin. "Well, that seems like good news to me."

"Yeah, we're going to the Elven Forest for… you know, in search for the missing Elf who had enough of his two-week absence."

The gladiator chuckled. "Ah, that carrot-top, I see, looks like the spotlights are on him."

"C'mon, there's no time to lose. " Ronan said as he and his crew hurriedly left their place. Their footsteps soon faded as they left a series of footprints on the soil.

* * *

She rests on her bed and sulks. She is left with no choices. She has no idea what Ryan is really up to, if only Gaia would help her figure it out. She wrapped her arms around her pillow and squeezing it tight to release her stress. Rocco, the druid's pet raccoon, appeared on her window as it made his way towards her. Lire saw the furry presence of the raccoon as he pounced on her blonde head like a kitten. The sidtri flew in her window and perched itself on a chair's backrest.

"I have bad news for you, little guy." Lire held the raccoon in her arms. "Your master left all of a sudden… and I don't know where he went off to."

Rocco's brown eyes widened to his surprise. Soon the pair of brown orbs is starting to shed tiny tears.

"I'm afraid it's true." The female Elf said. "I didn't mean to frighten you, Rocco."

Rocco sniffled and pounded his head on her chest. Lire put her down on her bed to let him rest.

She remembered what Amy said to her moments ago. She looked up at the ceiling trying to recall her message.

_"Two weeks ago we caught Ryan running away! He wants to go to Xenia all by himself. W-We tried to stop him but… he suddenly told us he'll be going back to Elven Forest…_ _**all by himself** _ _!"_

_E-Elven Forest!_ Her eyes opened in shock. _H-He's going to the Elven Forest all by himself! So if he doesn't want me to find him, still…_

She sat up on her bed, regaining back her senses. She jerked her head at Rocco about to sleep on her bed.

"Rocco, do you want to stay here in my room?" she asked. Rocco blinked twice before he knew what she meant. He shook his head rapidly as a no. Lire smiled.

"Great, you can come with me!" she said as she jerked her head at the sidtri's direction. "You want to come along, too?"

The fire bird responded by unfolding its wings and flying towards her. It landed on her shoulder and clicked its beak.

_Now everything's settled. Let's get this show on the road._

She took her dual crossbows and her bow as she headed to her window. She climbed on it and took her last glimpse of her room.

_Arme, Amy, Elesis, Mari, if you would go into this room, you'll find me gone. I left a note attached to my door so you'll know where to go._

She jumped off her window with Rocco and sidtri and landed on her feet. She ran off to head straight to the Elven Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story ends here. The sequel "Wishes Upon Fallen Stars" is currently in progress and is on the works. The chapters are published and will be duplicated here shortly.
> 
> Originally published in Fanfiction.Net, Grand Chase archives   
> Date started: March 24, 2011  
> Date finished: April 5, 2012
> 
> My FF.NET pen name is aika-chan02


	20. Chapter 18: Leave

"So let me get this straight." Sieghart scratched his head. "You snuck on the lucky pebble and solved the riddle right, and you grabbed the package and ran off, is that it?"

Mari nodded, who just looked up from her ether tech manual. She held the vial on her hand and put miscellaneous ingredients as said from the book. Sieghart have always wondered why would Mari try experimenting at a time like this. Ronan gave her warnings about the proper use of those rare items as Xethos told them. As usual, Mari would prefer ignoring him and continuing her work. The kettle let out the loud screech as vapor steamed out of the snout like smoke. Nora grabbed a pot holder and then the handle. With the two tea cups sitting on the tray, she poured the hot water on each cup. She went over to them holding the tray of two cups. Ronan sat between the immortal and the rune caster.

"So how long is gonna take your dragon to bring the others here?" the immortal asked, picking up a tooth pick from its small box and poking the sharp point between his teeth, which Ronan found it disgusting and out-mannered.

"I can't tell the exact time." He said with a shrug. "We all separated for our missions."

Sieghart shoved the toothpick between his teeth and then flicked it away with his fingers. The spell knight fumed from his actions. ""So you ditched that forest mission and decided to take down Lich for the sake of the dead souls and stop that 'grim reaper' from creating undead army."

"That's right." Ronan nods. "It will take us days to get from here to the Forsaken Barrows. Lire is still suffering from the bad cold, if she at least recovers, we'll tell Aton for our leave and go." He turned towards Mari. "Hey, Mari, Nora made you some– **What the heck are you doing?** " His eyes grew into circles when he saw Mari's vial forming bubbles from its mouth and they seem to be rising up.

"What the hell? Mari!" Sieghart hopped out of his chair. The cerulean-haired girl simply held the vial, its amount of rising bubbles seem to be increasing and extremely tiny droplets sprinkled the ground and then the lens of her glasses turned white again. She quickly sprinkled few drops of Slime drops on the bubbly substance before the bubbles shrunk. Then without even thinking what she's doing, she sprinkled some false ingredients before abruptly popping the cork. Seeing that the contents are starting to react violently, she barged out of the hut, found a harpy perched somewhere on a tree from the distance, as she threw the vial straight toward it. An explosion came about that caused the harpy to lose completely its feathers and fall off the branch.

Ronan and Sieghart appeared behind her, their mouths formed into wide 'O' and their eyes not doing a single blink.

"What–the–hell–did–you–JUST–do?" The immortal's rage voice echoed behind her.

Mari sighed and looked down on her shoes. "My experiment's a failure."

Ronan slapped his own face. "Mari… I warned you about the proper use of that stuff, remember?"

The girl gave out an expressionless look. "I guess I'll give those rare and _useless_ items to Arme…for now."

"They're useless because you misused them, _idiot_." Sieghart provoked. Nora poked her head at the door but didn't join them. She gestured a timid wave. Ronan responded with a sheepish smile. Sieghart suppressed his anger and watched the small flame Mari created. The flames roasted the harpy until its cooked aroma reached their nostrils. Suddenly, in this matter, Sieghart's anger faded away and made him go on a high fly.

"Looks like we found early breakfast." He says with a smirk. Ronan shook his head and sighed.

"Come on, let's go back inside. Nora's prepared the tea." With that he went back to the hut. Mari silently walked past Sieghart as the immortal gave the fried harpy from the distance scene a one last glance.

 _It's been a long time since I ate a roasted harpy…well, during my six hundred years of living._ He thought as a smirk spreads across his face. _What could be more than a large turkey? A roasted Harpy Queen, of course! Hahahahaha!_

Moments later, Mari finally sat on a chair and left her items on the carpet. A candle is lighted at the center of the table to provide light as the dawn strikes. Sieghart had finished his tea and clanked the cup back on the saucer. Mari simply stared by the window next to her while holding her cup of untouched tea. The black-haired immortal snatched another toothpick and poked it between his teeth again. Ronan winced and almost had that tingling feeling that this immortal has no manners, and this black-haired immortal is poking the tars on his teeth. _Oh for the love of Kanavan…_

"So, how is the goldilocks doing?" he asked. "Was that carrot-top sleeping with her?"

Ronan nods. "Yeah, the last time I checked on them he was."

"If it is going to Xenia he wants, why can't he invite us? I wanted to revisit that godly continent since I've travelled there for many months."

"I don't think Ryan will approve. Besides, his destination is at the Forest of Life where Gaia dwells. He said he'll seeking guidance that might help stop the working 'agent' unknown to Kaze'aze."

"Selfish, eh?" Sieghart smirked. "That tree-hugger's boosting his self-confidence!"

Ronan sighed. "Please… he has to. He's avenging for his past…"

"So what? We're the Grand Chase! We all work together to save the world!"

The spell knight fell silent as he cleared his throat. "You're right… but still – "

A hiccupping sob interrupted him came from the room where he was earlier. Alarmed, the spell knight walked in long strides and barged in. There he found the first bed messy and a pillow scattered on the floor compared to the second one, which was his bed. Lire is standing in front of the opened window, tears cascading down her cheeks. Ronan wondered why. That's when he realized the Jade Hook and the axe were gone.

_Don't tell me . . ._

"H-he's gone…" the female Elf sniffled, facing Ronan. "He jumped out of the window!"

 _Ryan…_ Ronan thought, his hands balled into fists. He can tell that carrot-top morphed himself into a wolf before leaving. Now that he left Lire with him, he's sure she'll be sick worried about him. Forever.

"Damn it! Why did he..?"

Lire wiped off her tears. _Was it something I said?_ Ronan looked out the window and his indigo-colored eyes stared at space grudgingly.

"He's on his own…" he mumbled. "So he made his decision."

Lire is not satisfied. "How could he do this? **Why** did he leave us?"

"Hey, what's going on?"

Sieghart's deep and cool voice echoed outside. His footsteps approached followed by Mari's. The two entered inside and the immortal gave them strange looks.

"Now why is the goldilocks crying?"

Ronan sighed, suppressing the grudge. "Ryan left unexpectedly…" he said in a low tone before Sieghart's gray eyes widened in shock.

"What the **hell**?" he gaped. His teeth gritted and his hands balled up into fists. "Damn it, we should have got her sooner."

"I don't know where he could be right now…"the spell knight said. "We still have to find Lich… and Kaze'aze. Guess we'll take them down without him." He turned to Lire and sighed. "I'm afraid we'll stick to the status quo. If it is Lich we'll take down, then we'll do it. We'll find ways to search for Ryan anytime."

"Fine." Lire gave in. She walked back to her bed and sat. "I hope he can take care of himself."

Sieghart snorted. "Sheesh, he grew up all by himself in the forests! He's used to all that stuff."

"Do you think he'll make it to the Border **all by himself**?" Lire's yellow eyes glared at him. "Of course not! There's no way he'll get there without personal assistance!"

The gladiator fumed as he glared back at her. "You are Elves, right? You can navigate yourselves through your senses. Your pointy ears are one of your extremely sensitive senses!" His finger pointed abruptly at her pointy ear. "If you're willing to follow that carrot-top, you have to at least give him some space. After we get rid of Lich, we'll search for him, just like what Ronan said."

Lire pondered shortly before nodding. "I get your point. How are we going to leave?"

Ronan rubbed the back of his head. "My dragon hasn't arrived yet. I dunno if we could all fit on him for transportation."

Mari winced. She doesn't like the sound of that.

"Well, it's settled. So Mari and I will stay here for a while. Would that be okay?" Sieghart says.

"You have to see Aton first, since this is his house we're staying."

The gladiator went towards Ronan's bed and threw himself in his back. He crossed his arms under his head and inhaled some oxygen.

"Ahh... nothing but a very relaxing nap I've always wanted."

* * *

" _Aww…what's wrong, Miss Goldilocks? So sad he left you behind~"_

" _Shut up! That's none of your business!"_

" _Looks like you ignored my words, Lire. You_ have _to be careful when you're with him. Little did you know his aggression is affecting his priorities?"_

" _I know, but why do you have to tell me? First, he leaves me and now you're mocking me? Please… give me some space. I'll forget him for a while."_

" _It's best if you forget about him more. That way, you won't be setting up an alibi. It's up to him to set one for himself."_

" _Whatever. I don't care whatever you say. I'm sure he will come back. I know it!"_

" _Yeah right. He_ will _come back. Big deal."_

* * *

 _The wolf ran on his four paws into the forest. Dried branches and dead leaves swatted his snout and eyes. He growled and continued running. After jumping out of the window and left his…_ girlfriend _behind, he couldn't help but to feel regretted and grudged at the same time. He wants to erase the memory off his head. But he can't. Besides, he's aiming for the Forest of Life, right? Why the heck would he waste his time with that blonde-haired one anyway? And that indigo-haired spell knight warned him about the dangers he'll face._

Just follow the directions. _He thought to himself._ Forget about her dream. Forget about them. And don't think about her. If she worries about me, that would be her problem.

 _He was such an idiot. Before he knew it, he realized he just left. But_ who _cares? The goldilocks? That spell knight? That adopted child? That potion maker? Especially that goldilocks who worries about him too much. He's been with her for a few days protecting her from harm and now he's leaving._

_He risked almost everything…just for her. He also needs time for himself, too._

_The wolf stops with a halt. His nose sniffed the air to catch some scent. He headed east. He has to remember the directions heading back to the unnamed forest then to Bermesiah. If he meets up with the rest of the Chase, he'd rather not say anything in case they ask questions._

_Until he heard voices._

" _Where the heck are you taking us?"_

" _I'm trying to think here! Just shut up!"_

" _Eeee… please tell me we're not gonna step on orc poop again."_

_Those voices sound familiar. The wolf hid inside a bush, where he saw two redheads and a pink-haired one. He knew them! What are they doing in there?_

Crud… _he grimaced._ Now I have to wait for them to go away.

* * *

"Where the heck are we?" Elesis growled while taking impatient steps. She dragged her spear behind her as the tip drew lines on the soil. Amy lazily spun one chakrani on her right arm as if playing with it. Jin is leading the way and figuring out the right directions. Somehow the short-tempered redhead with him is starting to get on his nerves from her impatient talking.

"If we get lost, it will be your fault!" Elesis said. Jin winced as his topaz eyes glanced on her. The female redhead folded her arms on her chest as she put down her spear and sat on a boulder.

"Yeah I know. You can blame me all you want. I'm not familiar to this place, anyways."

A tiny growl is heard behind them. Amy clutched her stomach.

"Oww… I'm really hungry." She frowned. "I haven't eaten anything. We've been here for two days and we still haven't found directions to the Silver Land."

"That's your problem, pinky." Elesis rolled her eyes. "Besides, you're the one who volunteered to search for berries."

"And it's not my fault the mission scroll got wet."

Jin's face turned pink from embarrassment. It's hard being the only guy with these two girls…

"Alright," he rolled the scroll and put it back on his pocket. "We can postpone this stupid mission and do something else. We'll go back to that cave and rest."

Elesis winced. "That requires more walking! My legs are freaking tired!"

"Can't we look for something to eat, please?" Amy begged. "If only forests have ice cream vendors, I would be giving myself a cone with two scoops of chocolate and two scoops of strawberry."

"Yeah, right. The pumpkin-faced monster is fantasizing on ice cream vendors disguising themselves as forest trolls."

Amy pouted and out of hammerspace, she raised her fragile violin towards Elesis' head. Jin almost freaked out. Just as before he stops her, Elesis saw what he meant as she took her spear.

"Oh, so you want to fight, huh?" she said mockingly. "Bring it on!"

"Take this!" To the two redheads' surprises, Amy's hand wielded a pink bomb with a yellow heart design. She threw it towards Elesis as it landed on the ground with a startling explosion (like a firecracker). Elesis leaped and jumped backwards.

"Hey, no extra props allowed!"

"There are no rules, weenie!" Amy stuck out her tongue. "I can do whatever I want!"

"Sure! Have it your way!"

Jin sighed. For him, he'd rather do something than watching those two fighting before they engage into a cat fight.

"Leap Attack!"

"Shy Shy Pawnch!"

"Get back here, pinky!"

Jin gasped and chased after the two annoying girls. Amy keeps on throwing pink bombs like firecrackers to keep both of them at bay.

"Stay away from me, weenie!" she whined.

"Not until I'm finished with you, stupid!"

"Hey, hey, cut it out!" Jin stood between them. "This is no time for cat fights!"

"Get out of the way, Jin!" Elesis yelled. "I wanna tear that pinky apart!"

"Fine, I won't throw bombs." Amy folded her arms on her chest. "I'll just use stuffed toys instead."

Elesis smirked. "Huh. Like those are gonna possibly hurt me."

"Oh yeah? TAKE THAT!" A Ming Ming stuffed toy is thrown out from Amy's hand. Elesis laughed merrily when the thing hit her head. She growled and clutched the tender spot.

"Gaahh! Why, you little – "

A noise not far from behind interrupted her. Jin looked behind when his eyes went towards the bushes.

"I thought I heard something."

"Yeah, me too." Elesis nods. Amy blinked her chocolate-brown eyes.

The three stopped from their fighting and approached the nearby bushes. Jin searched to where the sound came from. His bandage-covered hands pried through them as a harpy hatchling cawed for its mother. Jin got alarmed that this baby harpy might be calling for its mother, so he readied his power fists. And unfortunately, nothing happened.

The noise came again.

 _Where is that noise coming from?_ He thought as he made his way to the other bush. Amy appeared beside him to help him out.

"Well? Did you find anything?"

Amy shook her head, her curled pigtails swinging back and forth.

"Hmm, maybe I'll find some berries to eat while looking for that 'culprit'." The dancer suggested. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll inform you if I saw one." She beamed and jumped across another bush. Elesis approached Jin and placed her arms on her hips.

"I'm sure it came all the way from here." She said. "It could be that someone's been following us."

"Maybe you're right." The red-haired fighter nods. Just then, he heard a faint growl when he stepped his foot on the ground. He and Elesis exchanged glances, concluding it's another creature. Their hands pried on the bushes when they heard a loud rustling of the leaves. That's when they heard Amy scream.

"It's got Amy!" Jin exclaimed. He jumped across the bush and followed where Amy went. He saw her with her buttocks on the ground and clutching her head. "Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine…" she groaned, then her head jerked. "I-I think that creature looks familiar to me."

"Amy!" Elesis exclaimed as she stopped beside the dancer. "What exactly is that creature?"

The pink-haired muse stood up and quickly dusted her skirt. Her eyes widened as she gasped.

"Look! There it is!" her finger pointed at the orange-colored creature in front of them. "It's…It's a wolf!"

"A wolf?" Jin blinked when he saw the clear image of it. It had orange-colored fur, black and green gauntlets on each of its paws, and those piercing and deep emerald-green eyes.

_Only one has that kind of color…_

"H-Hey, that looks like – "

"Ryan!" Elesis finished. "What the heck is he doing in here?"

"B-But I thought he's with Ronan and Lire!" Amy exclaimed.

The wolf growled as he ran in all fours. Amy was the first to chase after him before the two followed behind. She threw stuffed toys at the wolf, which barely dodged. She tried bombs, but she would end up burning the trees.

"Ryan, stop!" she yelled. "Where are you going?"

Jin ran past her as he took the lead. "He's too fast. We can't catch up on him like this."

Just then, Elesis swung on the vines as she landed on the wolf's back. The canine growled and struggled, but the redhead pinned him on the ground.

Jin and Amy approached, panting under their breaths. The fighter knelt close to the wolf and he saw it really is Ryan.

"I thought you were with Ronan and Lire…" he said. The wolf grumbled. Elesis got off him as she pointed her spear on his face.

"If you dare try to run away, face the consequences." She said grimly, using the spear as a threat.

"I think he should morph back into his Elf form, maybe he'll explain everything." Amy says as the wolf walked towards a nearby bush and hid himself there. They heard panting and cursing from behind.

"Alright, Ryan, start talking!" Elesis demanded.

The druid clutched his head and avoided their gazes. His Jade Hook is placed beside him as he rested his back on a boulder. His orange messy hair defied gravity.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Jin asked.

"I'm trying to find directions back to Bermesiah, what else would I be doing?" the druid said in an eye-rolling manner.

"Do Ronan and…Lire know you left?"

Ryan winced. When they mentioned Lire, he couldn't help but to ball his hands into fists.

"I left…while Lire's asleep. Ronan invited Sieghart and Mari to join us. But I had enough. I have to go back to Bermesiah and go home to Elven Forest before I go to Xenia."

"You're going to Xenia all by yourself?" Amy reacted, her mouth opened wide. "It's a long way to go, Ryan! You should at least bring along a travelling buddy!"

"And I won't be depending on you for directions." Ryan said abruptly. "I have my own plans."

Jin folded his arms on his chest. "You know you would make Lire worried, especially you left while she's sleeping."

The druid snorted. "Who cares? She worries about me too much. She mentioned Gaia in front of me and I bet she's trying to stop me from going."

"Because she's worried you'll barely make it alive!"

"C'mon, Ryan, we can help you out!" Elesis says. "We have this pinky (Amy) to give us directions!"

"I said I don't **need** her for directions!"

Amy sighed in annoyance and placed her hands on her hips. "Look, you, I grew up in Xenia. I am the oracle. I was with the deities. I am an ally. I've wandered around that godly continent before I joined you guys. Just in case we get lost, I can help you get there. There's nothing to worry about."

_Gee, she didn't have to say a mouthful._

"What are you planning to do, anyway?" Jin asks again.

"I've said it before: That is **none** of your business!" Ryan stood up and prepared to leave. Elesis gritted her teeth and grabbed his collar from behind.

"And where do you think you're going?"

He said nothing but to swat her hand away. He wielded his Jade Hook with him as he looked at them behind his shoulder.

"Tell Lire, if she and Ronan came out looking for me especially her, that I'll be going back to the Elven Forest. Tell her not to follow me all the way back home just to find me." With that he walked away leaving the three stunned.


End file.
